I Need You
by davis32
Summary: Twenty Two year Artemis Crock was living a great life until her boyfriend of six years cheated on her. Now she has to figure out what to do with her life, and along the way she might just be able to find a new love in the ex Boy Wonder.
1. Chapter 1

I Need You

Artemis Crock was now twenty one years old. She and Wally remained together, they left the Team and went to college together, and they shared an apartment. Everything went downhill after living together for about eight months. Wally had met this girl named Sophia in one of his classes; they were partners on a class project.

It was a Thursday evening; she had just gotten of work at the little coffee shop that was down the street from her and Wally's apartment. She expected Wally to be home, because his last class ended hours ago, she wasn't surprised by the usual toss of his shoes right by the door. But she didn't expect the bright red high heels in the middle of her floor. Or the female clothes that were not hers on the floor mixed with Wally's.

Creeping silently she followed the clothes down the hall, they were obviously leading to the main bedroom. As she got closer she could hear voices and giggling, one was diffidently Wally's, and the other female. The door was slightly opened; when she peeked in she got the biggest shock of her life.

Wally her boyfriend of almost six years was in their bed naked with his project partner Sophia. She stood there opened mouth for who knows how long, to her it felt like hours. Instead of barging into the room and making a big scene, and beating the crap of both Wally and Sophia, she quietly turned around and headed towards the kitchen. Where she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, she quickly and quietly wrote a note to Wally.

_Wally _

_ I saw you and your PROJECT PARNTER Sophia, studying together in our bed. I didn't know that the new way to study was to cheat on your girlfriend by having sex with another girl in our bed. I'm through Wally I never want to see you again, I'm leaving, DO NOT call me or come looking for me. _

_ Artemis_

She left the note on the kitchen counter, quickly crabbed her coat, keys, and purse. When she left the apartment she made sure to slam the door as hard as she could, and quickly went to her car. Once she was safely in her car, the tears she had been holding back escaped. She sat in her car for five minutes crying when she heard Wally yelling her name, and could see him in her mirror, that's when she quickly started her car and speed off down the road. She didn't know where to go, and she couldn't stop the tears from running down her face.

After an hour of driving she eventually found herself on the familiar drive back to her home town, Gotham. She had two choices, she could go to her mother's house, where her mother would be sweet about everything and let her cry onto her shoulder but she would also ask tons of questions that she didn't want to answer. Artemis didn't want to talk. And that left the only person she knew in Gotham that would be comforting, but wouldn't say anything at all as she cried. And would ask questions when he knew that she was ready to talk. So she started towards Wayne mansion where Dick Grayson lived. Also known as Robin, but now days he goes by the super hero name Nightwing.

It was around 11 o'clock when she finally pulled up to the gates of Wayne mansion. She pushed the button and recognized the voice of Albert the butler. "Hello".

"Hi Albert its Artemis is Dick home?" said Artemis in a slightly constricted voice.

"Oh Artemis, Master Dick is not home yet, but he should back within the hour. Would you like to come in and wait for him?" Said Albert

"Umm yeah that would be fine. Thank you Albert" Said Artemis

"No problem Miss Crock, I will open the gate for you".

It only took a couple of seconds for the huge gates to open, so Artemis drove her car up the long driveway to the mansion. She parked her car and went to the door; right when she was getting ready to knock Albert opened the doors with a smile on his face.

"Miss Crock it is so nice to see you again. Please come in."

Artemis gave a small smile and said "Thanks Albert".

Albert must have noticed her puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks, because all of a sudden Albert's face changed from mild excitement to concern. Albert asked her "Is everything alright Miss Crock?"

Artemis sighed and looked down at the crystal clean floor and said in a low constricted voice "Ya I'm fine".

Albert must not have believed her because his brow furrowed and he asked her" would you like a cup of tea Miss Crock?" Artemis nodded and followed Albert into the huge kitchen. She sat on one of the stools at the island and watched Albert quickly for his older age move around the kitchen making the tea. She was amazed at how quickly and quietly he moved she hoped that she could still move like that at his age, whatever age that might be.

After about five minutes of watching the old butler the tea was done and was placed in front of Artemis along with some cookies. "Would you like to talk about it Miss Crock?"

Artemis looked down at her tea and sighed and said "Wally and I broke up".

"I am sorry to hear that" said Albert.

Artemis gave a small sad smile and said "yeah me to". Artemis started eating her cookies and drinking her tea, when all of a sudden she heard the familiar voice of Dick Grayson.

"Hey Albert, could you make me a couple ice packs". Dick Grayson had diffidently grown up from the scrawny little thirteen year old. He was now at least 6'3 and had broad muscled shoulders, but he still had the beautiful shiny blue eyes. Puberty treated him very well. Dick wasn't wearing his Nightwing costume, he was in a black t-shirt and grey sweat pants. His hair was matted down with sweat and had some dirt in it, and maybe what looked like blood. That made Artemis even more worried wondering how injured he was. He was slightly limping and had a cut on his right check, it wasn't bad but it looked like it was going to be bruised for a couple days.

At first he didn't notice Artemis sitting on the stool at the kitchen island. It wasn't until he looked up that he noticed the blonde archer sitting in his kitchen. "Artemis what are you doing here?" said a slightly confused Dick.

"Well hello to you to Dick" a laughing Artemis said. "I just came to say hello to one of my best friends, but if your too busy limping around and bleeding, I can leave" she said teasingly, the smile on her face didn't quite reach her eyes though, and Dick quickly caught saw it and new something was wrong.

Dick smiled and walked towards her and pulled her into a big loving and caring hug. Without hesitation she wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head onto his chest. It didn't go unnoticed by her when he slightly winced at the movement of her arms squeezing him. Artemis quickly let go and in a demanding voice asked "What's wrong Dick, where are you hurt at?" She was truly concerned for her friend.

Dick sighed and said "Got into a rough battle with the Joker". He pointed to his cheek and said "got cut by a thrown knife, then I landed roughly on my knee when I got tackled by one of the Jokers henchmen, think it might have cracked a couple ribs". When Dick noticed the worry in Artemis's eyes he quickly added "It's nothing to worry about Artemis, you and I both know that I've had a lot worse, I've already wrapped my ribs, and the cut isn't that deep I just need to put some ice on it, and ice my knee".

Artemis sighed "I know you've had a lot worse Dick, I'm just worried about you".

Dick smiled and hugged her again, she was careful not to hurt his rib cage again. Artemis sighed and rested her head on Dick's chest, and he put his chin on her head breathing in the smell of her shampoo. They stood there for a couple of minutes just embracing each other when Albert came back into the room.

"Here are your ice packs Master Dick".

"Thanks Albert, I'll take them up to my room". Dick headed off to hall way motioning for Artemis to follow him.

Artemis looked at Albert and smiled and said "Thanks for the tea Albert". She then grabbed the last cookie and left the kitchen following Dick to the huge marble staircase. She quickly caught up to him since he was still limping; he was already holding one ice pack to his the cheek, the other in his hand. They didn't speak on the way to his room; they walked in a comfortable silence. When they got to Dick's room, he opened the door and stood to the side and let her enter the huge room first. Artemis wasn't used to this kind of gesture; Wally never did that for her. Artemis was a strong and independent women, she could kick any full grown man's ass, and even take on a metahuman and hold her own very well. But sometimes it was nice to be treated like women, and Dick did that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks everyone for the reviews. This was obviously my first story, I fixed my mistake about Alfred, sorry about that. Hope you like the chapter.**

I Need You Chapter 2

_Artemis POV_

Dick's room was the size of her and Wally's apartment. The walls were stripped with red and black paint. There was a queen sized bed with black sheets and a red comforter. He had a black leather couch and a flat screen T.V. in one area, along with an x-box, and blue-ray player. He had a huge stereo system next it. On the other side of the room was one door that led to his private bathroom. Next to it was another door that lead to a walk in closet. In one area of the room was a huge desk that had six computers on it, it was obviously his own personal hacking station. On the walls he had posters of the Flying Grayson's, along with posters of Batman, and the original posters of the Young Justice League.

Artemis walked to the poster of the Young Justice League; on the poster it had the original six members Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, and herself as Artemis. Next to the poster was one that had the original six plus Zatana, and Rocket. There was also a poster of the new league; it had the new Robin, Nightwing, Superboy, Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Lagoon Boy, Wonder Girl, and Bat Girl.

Dick walked behind and pointed to the original poster and said "that's my favorite team, we all worked well together".

"That was the best time of my life, I finally found a family that truly cared" I turned around and gave Dick a small sad smile.

"I know something is wrong Artemis, tell me what it is".

I sighed and said "Wally and I broke up, you were the only person I could come to, and I know Wally is your best friend, but…." I trailed off I couldn't get the rest out the tears I had been fighting back had now made their way out. Dick quickly stepped closer to me and pulled me into a hug, I gently wrapped my arms around his waist careful not to hurt him again, while he wrapped his arms around my own waist. I buried my head into his strong muscular chest, and he buried his face into my long hair. We stood in each other's arms while I cried. We stood there together in out embrace for at least ten minutes when his phone started ringing.

Dick pulled back to look into my face and silently asked if it was alright that he answer the phone, when I nodded my head yes, he unwrapped his arms from around my waist and went to grab his phone from his desk. Immediately I missed his warm strong arms being around me, I missed the comfort and support that they provided me, so I wrapped my arms around myself, and walked to sit on the black leather couch, while he answered the phone.

Dick looked at the caller id on the phone and when he saw who it was, who I guessed to be Wally by the look on Dick's face, he turned to me and said "Uhh 'Miss its Wally, do you want me to answer it?".

"It's your phone Dick, you can answer it you if you like" I answered

Dick sighed and answered the phone "Hello".

I couldn't hear what Wally was saying, so instead I looked around the room trying not to listen to their conversation, but it was proving to be difficult for me.

"Oh hey Wally". "What's wrong man". "Oh I'm sorry to hear that man". "Have I seen her?" Dick looked at Artemis and without missing a beat he said "No man I haven't seen or heard from her". When he said that I gave him a grateful smile. "Yeah man if I hear from her I'll tell her you're looking for her, and wanna talk". "Yeah man I'll see you later, bye".

Dick hung up the phone put it back on his desk and then limped over to the couch to sit next to me. Dick slowly leaned back into the couch holding his rib cage, and then slowly put his bad leg on the coffee table, after he was comfortable he put his arms on the back of the couch and reclined his head back. I knew he needed to ice his cheek and knee so I stood up and grabbed the ice packs from the table by the door, and sat back on the couch next to him. I gently placed the first ice pack on his knee that was propped up on the coffee table, and then I turned to face him and put the other ice pack on his cheek. His beautiful shiny blue eyes meet my grey ones, and he placed his callused larger hand over my much smaller hand that was placed on his cheek holding the ice pack.

"He asked if I've seen or heard from you, I told him no, he seemed to buy it, I figured if you came all the way here it must have been pretty bad and you didn't want to see him yet". When I nodded my head yes he continued "So how bad was it 'Miss?"

I sighed and pulled my hand away from the ice pack on his cheek, making him having to grab fast so it didn't fall. I folded my hands into my lap and looked down at them as I began my story to the Boy Wonder.

"I had just gotten off work at the coffee shop; I knew he would be home because his last class had ended a couple of hours before I got off of work. So I wasn't surprised when I walked into our apartment and saw his shoes scattered by the door like usual. What did surprise me was the fact that his clothes were scattered all over our front room heading towards the bedroom, but it wasn't just his clothes on the floor, it was mixed with some women's clothes to that were obviously not mine. So I quietly followed the clothes down the hall, when I got to the door I could hear voices and giggling. The door was slightly open so I looked in, and saw Wally in our bed naked with his class project partner Sophia. I don't know how long I stood there for, eventually I turned around and walked to the kitchen where I quickly wrote a note and left it on the counter for him. I grabbed my jacket keys and purse and left the apartment, I sat in my car and then he came running out calling my name. I quickly started the car and drove off. Eventually I realized that I was headed towards Gotham, I didn't want to go to my mom's so I came here". By the time I was done telling him what happened I was crying again, I don't know when but at some point Dick had pulled me into his chest and was tightly holding me to him while I cried and told him the story. One arm was wrapped around my waist while the other combed through my hair in a comforting manner. Eventually I wrapped one of my own arms around his waist while the other was resting on his muscular chest. After I was done telling the story I continued to cry into his chest, while he held me and whispered kind reassuring things. It felt nice to be in his arms, they were strong and comforting. I was still slightly crying but I stayed in his arms, today had been an emotional roller coaster, it completely exhausted me, my eye lids started feeling heavier, and eventually I feel into the dark oblivion of sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I Need You Chapter 3

_Dick's POV_

I would never guess that Wally would be the kind of boyfriend to cheat, especially on a girl like Artemis; they had been together for so long. It pained me to see her cry like that so I pulled her into my chest and held her while she cried and told the story. When she was done telling me what happened I didn't know what to do so I just held her tighter and whispered soothing things into her hair.

I was so mad at Wally, Artemis didn't deserve this. I just wanted to go to Wally and beat the crap out of him, but I knew Artemis wouldn't want that, if anyone was going to beat up Wally it was going to be her. While I was thinking of ways to best beat up Wally, Artemis had fallen asleep on my chest. I knew she wouldn't sleep very comfortably if I left her to sleep on the couch. So I brought my injured knee off the coffee table and made it so that I could easily get up. I left on arm around her waist while the other went behind her knees. Once I had securely cradled her in my lap I stood up, even though it was extremely painful on my knee and rib cage I made it off the couch and to the bed. I laid her down on the bed and tucked her underneath the covers. She didn't even wake up when I moved she must have been exhausted. When I got her tucked into the covers, I went into my closet to grab an extra pillow and blanket, so that I could sleep on the couch. Even though it was painful to sleep on the couch I figured it would be better than having Artemis freaking out that we slept in the same bed. My mind was running wild, it took me forever to fall asleep and when I did it was a restless sleep.

I woke up at 5 in the morning. Artemis was still asleep, and I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I silently got up, went to the bathroom took a shower and grabbed my workout clothes from my closet, changed and then silently left the room, I decided to go to the gym, that Batman and I used to train in. I needed a way to get out my anger at Wally. I don't know how long I was training, but when I came back to my room to shower and change again the sun was completely up. Artemis was still sleeping so I silently went into the bathroom to shower.

_Artemis POV_

I woke up in a big warm bed, Dick's bed, but how the hell did I end up in his bed, I still had my clothes on, the last thing I remember was sitting on the couch in Dick's arms. I must have fallen asleep, and Dick moved me to the bed. But where did he sleep, and where was the Boy Wonder at now. I sat up and looked around when I noticed that there was a pillow and blanket on the couch, but he wasn't there, that's when I could hear the shower running, so he's taking a shower.

I sat on the bed thinking about everything that happened yesterday. I was done with Wally, he broke my heart, but now I had nowhere to go, and how was I supposed to get my stuff from the apartment, I did not want to see or talk to Wally. I couldn't guarantee his safety if I were to see him right now. As I was thinking things over in my head Dick came out of the bathroom. He was wearing black jeans, he didn't have a shirt on, and he had a towel on his head drying his hair. His chest was extremely ripped, but he also had a lot of scars from the years of being a super hero. I just couldn't stop starring. He didn't notice I was awake at first but when he felt my stare he looked up at me, and gave his famous smirk, I could feel my face flush with red, at being caught.

"Like what you see 'Miss?" He had that stupid famous super cute smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes at him and said "Oh yes Boy Wonder I am".

Dick laughed and said "I'm twenty years old 'Miss I don't think that nickname qualifies anymore".

"You'll always be the Boy Wonder to me Dick, get used to it"

He smiled making his eyes light up even more; he came and sat next to me on the bed, I pulled my legs up to my chest and rested my arms on them. He put his hand on my shoulder and asked "Are you alright Artemis?"

I looked at him and said "Yeah I am, it just hurts, I thought that he really loved me, that he actually cared about me. Why would he do that Dick?"

"I don't know Artemis, but I know that you didn't deserve that, any guy would be lucky to have you, Wally's an idiot for doing that to you, and if it would make you feel better I could go over there and beat him up a little bit for you".

I laughed and grabbed his hand from my shoulder and intertwined our fingers together, I rested our intertwined hands on the bed between us, he rubbed his thumb over the top of my hand, in a comforting manner, so I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I think the only thing that would make me feel better would be some chocolate and ice cream, and if I were the one to beat up Wally."

Dick laughed and stood up from the bed, he gently tugged on my hand telling me to follow him. So I got up from the bed and followed Dick out his room to the hall way.

"I don't think Alfred will be happy with our breakfast choices but I think he'll make an acceptation considering the situation".

I smiled and followed him down the huge stair case into the kitchen, we were still holding hands when we walked in, Alfred was getting what looked like lunch started. When he heard us enter he turned around and smiled, he briefly looked at our intertwined hands, but didn't say anything about it.

"I'm just starting to make lunch Master Dick what would you and Miss Crock like?"

"Please Alfred call me Artemis"

"We would like some chocolate and ice cream Alfred" Dick gave him a look that said please don't question just do it please.

Alfred nodded his head and said "Alright, but don't think this is a regular thing Master Dick".

"I wouldn't dream of it Alfred" Dick said with a smile.

We sat down on the bar stools at the island counter still holding hands, now I know what you're thinking, but I do not like Dick like that, he's like a little brother to me. Yeah he made blush this morning, and yes he's super cute, and has gorgeous eyes, but it's not like that between us. He is my best friend, and besides I just got out of a relationship why would I jump into another one. Dick sees me as a sister and I am ok with that. Even if a little part of me is telling me that I'm not, but I'm just going to ignore that part of me. Right now I just need to focus on getting my life back together, and think about what I want to do.


	4. Chapter 4

I Need You Chapter 4

Artemis was still thinking things over in her head when Dick started speaking.

"So what did you have planned for today? We can hang out if you want to, Bruce had to go out of town until tonight so I don't have training until then, and I don't have to go to the cave today".

"I haven't thought about what I was going to do. But I do need to go to my apartment and get my things; I guess I could take my stuff back to my moms and stay with her until I can get an apartment". Artemis replied

"Stay here".

Artemis was half way to putting another spoon full of ice cream into her mouth when he said that, she dropped her spoon back into her bowl and just gapped at him. He gave her that famous super cute and super annoying smirk.

"I can't stay here Dick; Wally is your best friend that will make things really weird".

"Yes you can Artemis. You're my friend to, and I want to help you out, we have plenty of room here, and Bruce won't mind. Besides I'm pretty upset with Wally to, he shouldn't have done that to you, you didn't deserve that". Dick had a dark look in his eyes, it was slightly scary, Artemis wondered if that's what his eyes looked like underneath his mask when he was fighting crime.

She grabbed his hand, and slightly squeezed it, she gave him a small smile. "Thank you Dick, you're truly a good friend. I guess I can stay here until I can find my own apartment. But I'm going to need your help to get my stuff". She had that look in her eye that meant she had an idea but Dick wasn't going to like it, which made him slightly nervous.

"Alright I'll help you".

"Thanks Dick. I really don't want to see Wally, and since its Friday he has no classes, and I'm not sure if he works today or not, but I really don't want to take that chance. So I was wondering if you would call him and make plans with him while I go to the apartment and get my stuff". She gave her best puppy dog eyes hoping to win him over.

Dick sighed she looked so cute, even though he really did not want to see let alone talk to Wally he knew he couldn't resist that look she was giving him. "Alright 'Miss I'll distract him while you get your stuff, but I'm only giving you an hour". Artemis smiled and threw her arms around him giving him a huge hug. Dick laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, the hug lasted longer than either thought it should but neither wanted to let go. Eventually Artemis pulled away first.

"Uhh well I'm going to get ready, and then we can go".

"Yeah that's fine, you can use my bathroom, I'll try and find some clothes for you to use and leave them outside the door for you".

Artemis gave him a weird look, why would he have women's clothes here, on second thought she didn't want to know why. She gave him a small smile and said "Thanks Dick". She stood up and left the kitchen heading towards the stair case to go to his room.

Dick sighed, he saw the look on her face, the only reason he had women's clothes here was because of Barbara, since she was Batgirl now she had a change of clothes here for when they had late night missions and it was too late to go to the cave. Dick left the kitchen heading towards the Bat cave to get the extra clothes. After he grabbed a pair of pants and a shirt, he headed towards his room. When he got there he knocked on the door and said "Artemis I got the clothes for you I'm just going to leave them outside the door".

When he heard her reply he left his room to head towards the medical bay. His knee didn't hurt so much, he was still slightly limping but not very much, his rib cage though hurt a lot, and sleeping on the couch did not help, he was going to have Alfred rap them for him. His cheek was still bruised but the ice pack helped a lot with the swelling.

While Dick was in the medical bay Artemis turned the hot water off and grabbed a fluffy white towel to wrap around her body, she slightly opened the door to see if Dick was in the room, when she didn't see him she quickly grabbed the clothes and then shut the door again. Dick had picked out a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, with a V-neck white t-shirt, it was good thing Artemis was wearing a white bra then. Artemis still had that weird feeling about why he had women's clothes here, part of her wanted to know, but the other part didn't. After she tied her hair into a ponytail, put her black high top tennis shoes on, and grabbed her purse, keys, cell phone and jacket, she left the room to find Dick.

Since she had no idea where to go without getting lost besides the kitchen she decided to go there. She was almost to the stair case when Dick came from one of the other hallways.

"Hey 'Miss. You ready to go? I figured we could just take my car to make things easier. I'll call Wally on the way and ask him to hang out; I'll leave my car in front of the building. I can drop you off a couple blocks away from your apartment and then you can go in get your stuff. I'll give you the spare key to my car and you can put your stuff in it then I'll pick you up where I dropped you off. Sound alright?"

"Yeah that sounds good Dick".

Dick smiled and said "Alright let's go to my second favorite place of the house".

Artemis laughed and followed him. They went through the kitchen said good bye to Alfred, and went through the door that Dick came through last night. At first Artemis thought he was taking her to the bat cave, but when they came to the end of the hall there were two doors, they went through the door on the left. Once Dick stepped through the door and to the side so that Artemis could see, her jaw dropped to the floor. They were in the garage; this garage was twice the size of the hanger in the cave, there had to be at least a hundred cars in there, there was a couple limos, a couple of huge SUV's, at least 25 old style cars that were completely tricked out, and a lot of new sports cars all of the newest versions. Dick laughed at her face and headed towards the far side of the garage.

"This is my side of the garage". Artemis eyes got as wide as saucers, there were a couple of old cars on his side like a dark red 1996 convertible Ford Mustang GT, a black 1967 Chevy Camaro, but it looked like he was working on it, along with ten types of motorcycles, some of the older motorcycles had tools around them. He also had some newer sports cars, like a black with red strips 2012 Chevy Camaro, and a 2012 silver Audi R8.

"So which car do you want to take, I'm still working on the 96 mustang and the 67 Camaro. We could take one of the SUV's if you have a lot of stuff".

She didn't have that much stuff to get she just wanted to get her clothes, her photo albums, and her Artemis super hero costume and bow and arrows. It was at least four duffle bags of stuff.

"About four duffle bags of stuff, how much trunk space is in the Audi" she asked with a smirk, she really wanted to take that car.

Dick laughed and said "I think we can squeeze four duffle bags in there, come on". He walked over to the far wall and grabbed a pair of keys; he unlocked the car and slide in. The interior of the car was black; the windows were tinted so no one could look in. Artemis was diffidently in love with this car, she feel even in more love when Dick started it, he pressed a button on the console and the garage door opened, Dick looked at Artemis gave his famous smirk that meant he was up to no good and hit the gas pedal, they speed out of the garage. Artemis was sure that they left burn marks in the garage, and she was sure that she had gotten whip lash.

"I'm going to call Wally now, I'm going to put him on speaker phone so don't make a noise, alright". When she nodded her head, he pressed a button on the console and said "Call Wally West". After a couple of rings Wally picked up "Hello?"

"Hey man its Dick, you want to hang out for a bit?"

"Oh hey man, yeah that sounds cool; I have work in a couple of hours though".

"Well I'm on my way now I'm driving like a civie so I'll be there in like an hour, that alright".

"Yeah that'll work, we can go to the coffee shop down the street and get some lunch, sound good?"

"Ok I'll see you in a bit man".

"Alright see ya". Dick pressed another button and ended the call.

"He doesn't sound upset or anything; he sounds like everything is fine, like he and his girlfriend of six years didn't just break up, because he fucking cheated". Artemis was pist, hearing his voice just made her so angry, and the fact that he sounded like he didn't just get caught by his girlfriend for cheating, made it even worse.

Dick looked at her, and saw that she had that look on her face that meant she was going to hurt someone, and hurt them really bad, he was really glad that she didn't have her bow and arrow with her right now. He reached over and grabbed her hand; he intertwined their fingers and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. When she looked at him he looked back and gave a kind smile, the fire seemed to drain from her eyes, she gave a small smile back to him.

"Keep your eyes on the road Boy Wonder". She said with a laugh, he laughed to and looked back to the road, he kept their hands intertwined, he wasn't going to let go until she pulled away. But she never did, they kept holding hands until they pulled up to the spot where he would drop her off.

"Alright so I'll go park in front of the apartment, once me and Wally are at the coffee shop down the street, you can sneak in and get all of your stuff, I'll text you if we start heading back early or if something happens. Here's the spare key so you can put your stuff in the car".

"Thank you for helping me Dick, I know this is going to be hard for you to spend time with him since your upset with him to. I really appreciate it, you're a great friend".

"You're welcome 'Miss, you know I would do anything to help you".

She smiled and unbuckled her seat belt and got ready to open the door, she turned around and looked at him "I'll see you in an hour". She opened the door and got out; when she shut the door Dick pulled away from the curb and headed towards her old apartment. She started walking so that she could see when Dick and Wally left to go to the coffee shop. She hid in the shadows around the corner; she only had to stand there for 10 minutes before, Dick Wally and to Artemis' surprise Sophia walked out. Wally and Sophia were holding hands, Artemis did not expect to see them together, she felt like she had gotten stabbed in the gut with a knife. She fought back the tears, she was not going to cry over Wally, she was done crying. Dick looked really pist off, his hands were in tight fists at his side, whenever Wally looked over at him Dick gave him a fake smile, you could clearly see the anger in his eyes, but Wally was completely oblivious to the fact that his best friend was angry at him. Once they were down the street almost to the coffee shop, Artemis slipped out of the shadows and quickly moved to the door of the apartment building, she brought her keys out and went inside. Once she got to the apartment that she and Wally shared, she took a deep breath and unlocked the door.


	5. Chapter 5

I Need You Chapter 5

The apartment looked exactly the same, but all of the pictures of Wally and Artemis were gone. Quickly Artemis went to the closet where she stored her duffle bag that held her bow and arrows, and her "Artemis" costume; she made sure that everything was in the bag before she sat it next to the door. Then she went to the main bedroom to get her clothes and other personal items, she grabbed two bags form the closet, and started shoving her clothes into them, she didn't even bother folding them, she just wanted to get out of the apartment. Once all of her clothes from the closet and the dresser were packed in the two bags she went into the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom, and grabbed her hygiene things, she put those two bags by the door. Then she went into the spare bedroom to get another bag to pack her personal belongings into. Right when she started packing her photo albums, her phone vibrated, it was a text message from Dick. It said "Hurry up 'Miss, I don't think I can make it the full hour with him". Artemis sighed, she understood how he felt, she didn't expect Sophia to be with Wally, and knowing Wally he probably wasn't catching onto the fact that Dick was mad. Artemis text back and said "I'm almost done just give me twenty minutes". Artemis put her phone back into her pocket and quickly started packing again. She grabbed all of her photo albums from the book shelf, and some her school things that she wanted to keep. Then she went back into the main bedroom to get the stuff out of the closet that was hers, along with the things out of her night stand. She grabbed the framed photos in the living room that were hers, she didn't bother looking for the pictures of her and Wally she didn't want them. Once she had all of her stuff by the door she double checked that she had everything, she looked around the apartment that she and Wally had shared for the past six months, that painful feeling was back in her gut, and tears stung her eyes, she shook her head, she wasn't going to cry. She took the apartment keys off of her key chain and set them on the counter, she grabbed her bags and walked out the door, she didn't bother shutting the door. When she got to Dick's car she opened the trunk and shoved her bags in, once everything was in she locked the car and went around the corner to hide in the shadows again. She pulled out her phone and texted Dick "I'm done; I'm waiting on the corner across the street in the shadows", once the text sent she put her phone into her pocket and waited. Ten minutes later Dick, Wally, and Sophia walked up, Dick still looked really upset, and of course Wally was oblivious. They were all talking, but Artemis was too far away to hear what they were saying. After a couple of minutes of talking Sophia shook Dick's hand kissed Wally and then went inside the apartment building. When Sophia kissed Wally it felt like Artemis had got punched in the gut again it hurt to see him move on like that. When Artemis looked back at Dick and Wally they were still talking but it looked like it was starting to get a little heated, when all a sudden Dick yelled something that she couldn't understand and then he punched Wally in the face. Wally grabbed his now bleeding nose and stumbled backwards; Dick said something to him and then turned around and got into his car, instead of driving towards their meeting place he drove up to her hiding place. He rolled down her his window and said "Come on "Miss". Her mouth was wide open; she was completely shocked that he did that to his best friend. Artemis walked around to the passenger side of the car to open the door; when she felt someone staring at her she looked up to see Wally staring at her, he was still holding his nose, he looked hurt and angry. Artemis put on her emotionless face and got into the car, once she shut the door and put her seat belt on Dick speed away leaving tire marks on the road, and dust in the air.

They rode in silence for a while, Artemis was trying to figure out why Wally had looked hurt and angry, he was the one who cheated, he broke her heart. He had no reason to be hurt or angry. When Artemis looked over at Dick, she could tell he was still mad, he was griping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles had turned white, his face was set into a hard line, and his eyes were no longer the beautiful shade of blue, they were almost black, it was scary to see him that way. Artemis didn't know what to say that would calm him down so she reached over and grabbed his hand, she gently pulled on his hand so that he would let go of the steering wheel, it took a couple of tugs but eventually he let go of the steering wheel and relaxed his hand, she intertwined their fingers, and to help him relax more she rubbed her thumb in circles over his hand. He still wouldn't look at her, he just stared at the road ahead, slowly his face started to relax, the hand still on the steering wheel loosened so that the color started coming back. His eyes were slowly starting to turn to their normal shade of shiny blue, he took a deep breath and released it that's when he finally fully relaxed, he looked at her and gave her a tiny smile, and she smiled back.

Artemis decided to break the silence first "Thank you Dick".

He looked at her "What for 'Miss?".

She looked at their intertwined hands and smiled "For being a great friend, for helping me get my stuff" she hesitated a bit before she spoke again "and for punching Wally in the face" Dick laughed at that "I didn't expect to see him with her, it felt like someone punched me in the gut, and you punching him made me feel a little bit better".

Dick squeezed her hand and smiled at her "I'm glad I could help, punching Wally made me feel a little bit better to, it pist me off that he would have her with him, that entire meeting was torturous for me, that girl's a total bimbo. But you shouldn't be sad over it, your ten times better than she is, your smarter, and a whole lot prettier". Being complemented like that by Dick made her blush; she ducked her face hoping that he wouldn't see her blush. They made small talk on their way back to the mansion, and continued holding hands.

When they pulled up to the gates Dick pressed a button so that they opened, Dick pulled up in front of the already opened garage door and backed into the spot.

"Come on I'll help you carry your stuff to your room, Alfred said he would have it ready by the time we got back". Artemis got out of the car and walked to the trunk to get her bags out. Dick already had a bag strapped across his back, with another in his hand, she grabbed one and went to grab the other so that they both were carrying two but he grabbed it before she could. He shut the trunk and headed towards the house, he went the way that they came out, through the kitchen and to the staircase. They were headed towards his room, but before they got to his door they stopped and Dick opened the door on the left side of the hallway, his door was on the right side and a couple of feet away. Dick opened the door and stepped inside, Artemis followed him. The room wasn't as big as Dick's, which was fine with her, but it was still the nicest place that she has ever stayed in. The second best place was her room that she had in the cave. There was a queen sized bed, with a dark forest green comforter, there was a desk with a laptop on it, there was an entertainment center that had a flat screen T.V. on it along with a Blu-ray player, there was a ceiling high bookshelf filled with all kind of books and movies, and there was a bay window that looked over the garden. Artemis sat her bag on the bed and just looked around, it was a beautiful room, Dick sat the bags on the bed.

"There's a walk in closet filled with towels, and things like that, and you have your own personal bathroom".

"Wow, this room is amazing, thank you Dick". Artemis said

Dick smiled and said "Bruce should be home in the next couple of hours, so I have to get ready for training, you can just hang out in here if you want to, and Alfred will come and get you when dinner is ready".

Hearing about Bruce made Artemis wonder if he even knew that he had a new house guest, or if he would even want her here, Artemis and Batman didn't have the best track record.

"Dick does Bruce know that I'm here?" She looked at him nervously.

Dick laughed and said "There's no reason to be nervous 'Miss, I called him this morning and told him everything that was going on, he said it was fine, and that you could stay as long as you needed to".

Artemis breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tim is going to be joining us for dinner tonight, he stayed at the cave while Bruce was gone, so it should be an interesting dinner. But I should be getting ready for training. Are you going to be alright 'Miss?".

Artemis smiled, she hadn't seen Tim in forever, "I'll be fine Dick, I'll just unpack my bags and get ready for dinner. Umm Tim does he know what happened?"

"I haven't said anything to him, and I know neither Bruce or Alfred will say anything, but he's a smart kid, I'm sure he'll figure out that you and Wally broke up, but he shouldn't figure out why".

Artemis smiled "Alright I'm just not ready yet to explain everything, you think you could talk to him and tell him not to ask or say anything to anyone".

"Of course I can 'Miss. Everything is going to be alright". Dick walked over and pulled her into a hug, Artemis wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his muscled chest, while he buried his face into her hair. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, when he pulled away he gave her a reassuring smile and said "I have to go, I'll see you at dinner ok."

Artemis smiled and said "Go learn how to save the world Boy Wonder".

Dick laughed at the nickname and gave her his famous and oh so cute smirk, before he left. Artemis sat down on the bed and smiled, she was lucky to have Dick as a friend. After a couple of minutes of sitting on the bed, she got up to turn on the radio, when she found her favorite station she turned the volume up and began unpacking her bags.


	6. Chapter 6

I Need You Chapter 6

It only took an hour and a half for Artemis to unpack all of her things, she put some of her favorite pictures on the desk and night stand tables. She didn't have very many clothes so the closet was still pretty bare. She stored her photo albums and other personal items in the closet too. Artemis didn't know what else to do, she thought about wondering around the mansion, but didn't really fell like getting lost and having to call Dick to come find her, and then having him giver her that super annoying but super cute smirk. So she decided to take a shower before dinner. By the time that she was dressed and ready, someone was knocking on her door.

When she opened the door Alfred was there "Hello Miss Crock, I came to tell you that dinner will be ready in thirty minutes, in the dining room".

Artemis smiled "Thank you Alfred, but please call me Artemis, I'm really not a fan of my last name, and being called by it makes me think of my father which is something I prefer not to do".

Alfred smiled at her and said "Of course Artemis I will try to remember that".

"Thank you Alfred".

Alfred nodded and headed down the hall towards the staircase. Artemis went to the desk to grab her phone, after she placed it in her pocket she headed towards the staircase, when she realized that she had no idea where the dining room was at. So she turned around and headed towards Dick's room, hoping that he was there. Artemis knocked on the door, thankfully Dick was in there, he answered the door, the only thing Dick was wearing was dark jeans, he had a towel around his shoulders and his hair was still slightly wet, he must have just gotten out of the shower. Artemis seemed to lose the ability to form words, she just starred at his muscled chest and chiseled abs, God he was hot.

Dirk smirk and said "This is the second time that you've checked me out without a shirt on today 'Miss".

Him speaking was able to snap Artemis out of her trance she looked up into his blue eyes that were shiny with amusement. She figured she would go for a bold retort "Well maybe if you stopped walking around without a shirt, I wouldn't have to check you out, but I have to say I quiet enjoy checking you out, your Nightwing costume is nice to look at too but you without a shirt is ten times better". Dick gaped at her; he did not expect her to say that.

She laughed and said "Come on Boy Wonder put a shirt on so that you can show me to the dining room".

Dick smiled turned around and walked to his closet; he came back out wearing a black fitted t-shirt. "Come on 'Miss lets go eat". Dick grabbed her hand and led her to the stairs. Artemis had no idea how they got there but eventually they made it to a huge room, with a table the size to fit all the Justice League, there was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling, it was absolutely gorgeous. Bruce was seated at the head of the table, Tim was sitting on his right, and on his left were two place settings. When Tim saw Artemis enter the room he quickly stood up and ran around the table to hug her, it had been a long time since she had seen the kid, she let go of Dick's hand so that she could hug him back.

When she pulled away she said "It's good to see you Tim, you're getting tall, next thing I know you're going to be taller than me".

Tim smiled at her and said "It's good to see you too Artemis". Tim walked back to his place at the table, Artemis walked next to the seat next to Dick, he smiled at her, when she sat down he leaned over to whisper in her ear "I think someone has a crush", when she gave him a quizzical look he slightly nodded his head towards Tim who was too busy texting on his phone, she smiled and whispered "Is someone jealous?", Dick gave her a full smile and turned back towards the table.

"Hello Artemis it is good to see you again, it has been a while". Bruce said.

Artemis smiled and said "It's nice to see you to Bruce; yes it has been a while. And thank you for letting me stay here, I truly appreciate it".

"You're welcome here anytime Artemis, we have plenty of room, and you can stay as long as you want".

Artemis smiled at him. Alfred came in pushing a cart of food. On the plates were mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables, and steak. The food was amazing, and the conversation was light and entertaining, each Wayne member teased each other and made jokes, this was not how Artemis pictured dinner at the Wayne mansion, but it was nice to see that the three super heroes had fun together, and weren't always dead serious. After the plates were removed and Alfred served them each a bowl of chocolate ice cream Tim started talking to her.

"So Artemis have you thought about returning to the life of fighting crime?"

Both Dick and Bruce turned towards her wanting to know what her answer was. "Umm ya I've thought about it, but Wally was adamant about leaving that life behind. I've missed it every day though".

"Well now that you're not with Wally anymore why don't you return to it?"

"I don't know, I guess I could call Ollie up and see if he needed any help, but I would have to start training again."

That's when Dick spoke up "You don't have to call Ollie and travel all the way to Star City you could train here with us". He turned to look at Bruce who seemed to be thinking it over in his head.

"Well it would be nice to have you back on the team Artemis, and you already know all of our secret identities, except for Batgirls who trains with us most of the time, I think it's a great idea, it'll be nice to have you back. I'll talk to Batgirl and see if she would like to keep her identity a secret or not".

Artemis smiled and said "Thank you so much Bruce".

"We will start training at 5 am, it'll just be me and your Artemis, Dick and Tim have training with the team at the cave". Artemis smiled she couldn't wait to start training again, and to be a part of the team again she had missed it so much. After desert everyone headed towards their own rooms since it was going to be an early morning. Dick grabbed her hand and led her towards her room, when they got to the door Dick didn't let go of her hand he just rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I'm glad that you're coming back 'Miss".

"Me to, I really missed it, I'm a little nervous about tomorrow though, it's been a long time since I've done any kind of training".

"I'm sure you'll be fine, it's in your blood. So I was thinking that we could keep it quiet that you're coming back and then when you're ready to start doing missions again we can surprise the team, it'll be great".

"Yeah it'll be fun to see all of their faces".

Dick smiled at her "I should let you get some sleep, you have to wake up early tomorrow".

Artemis smiled and said "Yeah I guess so. Good night Dick". She went to open her door, but Dick grabbed her hand again and pulled her into a hug, Artemis was shocked at first but quickly returned it, after a couple of minutes Dick pulled away and said "Good night 'Miss". He turned around and headed towards his own bedroom. Artemis went into her own bedroom, she got ready for bed and set her alarm clock for 4 am, she quickly fell asleep.

The next morning she got dressed in her old workout clothes and headed towards the kitchen. There was a basket of muffins on the counter with a note next to them, it said "Artemis these are for you, there's juice in the fridge, when you're ready just head through the door that goes to the garage, but go through the door on the opposite door, when you get to the door at the end of the hallway, just press your hand to the panel, Master Wayne will be waiting for you. Good luck. Alfred". Artemis ate her muffins with some orange juice, when she was done she headed towards the bat cave. She had to admit she was slightly nervous; she had never trained with Batman before.

After three hours of training with Batman, Artemis was completely exhausted. She knew she was going to be really sore tomorrow, so to help a little bit she decided to take an ice bath in the medical bay that Bruce had told her about, she was able to find her way there without getting lost. Once she was in the ice bath she tried to relax by thinking about the training she had just gone through. She wasn't as rusty as she had thought, Dick was right it was in her blood, her archery was almost like she had never quite. It felt great to be back.


	7. Chapter 7

I Need You Chapter 7

It had been a month since Artemis moved into the Wayne mansion with Dick, Bruce, Alfred and Tim. To say it wasn't interesting was an understatement. Tim and Dick were constantly pranking each other, sometimes they would prank Alfred but after he threatened to never make cookies again they stopped that, and instead turned their victim to Artemis. Artemis could take a prank, but when you wake her up on her one day off at 5 am with a bucket of slim dumped onto her bed, you're going to get your ass kicked. Both Wayne boys hid from her until dinner, where they both sat as far away from her as they could. Artemis' training with Batman had been coming along great, her archery was still amazing as ever, and she was in the best physical shape of her life, Batman told her that she could rejoin the team for a mission next week which was why she and Dick would be surprising the team tonight.

Neither Dick nor Artemis had heard from Wally, which was fine for both of them, but sometimes Artemis got the feeling that Dick missed his best friend more than he let on. There were times when she missed Wally to, but then she quickly remembered the fact that he cheated and broke her heart and his face becomes her next target. Artemis enrolled into Gotham Community College, and was currently taking some online classes. She needed something to do when she wasn't training, Bruce and Dick were at work at Wayne Inc. and Tim was at school at Gotham Academy, which left her and Alfred at the mansion. Artemis loved Alfred but she needed more of a distraction. Artemis also went and visited her mother once a week; it was nice to be close to her again. Since Batman had a zeta tube from the bat cave Dick and her would be leaving from there, since there wasn't actually a mission going on they would be attending in there civilian clothes, but Artemis was taking her spare costume and bow and arrow to keep in Dick's room at the cave.

Artemis was finishing getting ready, she couldn't find the top that she wanted to wear, so when Dick knocked on the door and she said to come in she still had no shirt on, she was wearing dark skinny jeans, black high tops, and a white lacey bra, she was looking for her white midrise shirt.

When Dick opened the door he stopped dead in his tracks. Artemis was standing with her back to him not wearing a top, just a super sexy white lacy bra. His ability to form words and think straight had left him, God she looked hot. She must have heard his sharp intake because she turned around to look at him, she had her hands on her hips and she looked frustrated. When she turned around Dick's brain completely turned into mush.

Artemis smirked she recognized that look, that was the look she wore when she saw him without a shirt. When she turned around to look at him she finally found the shirt she was looking for, it was on the desk, she walked over to put it on, she could feel Dick's eyes on her the entire time. Even after she put her shirt on he continued staring at her, she grabbed her phone and black jacket from her desk, Dick was still in his trance, she figured that she should probably wake him up. She walked over to him stood on her tip toes and whispered seductively in his ear "Like what you see Boy Wonder".

Dick shook his head to break out of his trance, he smirked at her and said "Why yes I do 'Miss".

Artemis laughed and grabbed his hand leading him towards the bat cave so that they could go to the cave. It took a while and a few embarrassing moments but Artemis was finally able to get around Wayne mansion without getting lost. They meet Batman in the bat cave; he had called a team meeting saying that he had found a new member and wanted everyone at the cave to meet the new team member. He even called in a few of the Justice League to be there; like Ollie, Zatanna, and Black Canary. He had disabled the computer so that it couldn't recognize her and announce her when she came through the zeta tube. Dick and Batman were going to go before her, she would wait at the bat cave for Dick to text her saying it was time.

Bruce was in his Batman costume since he didn't dress as a civilian around the team, he was typing on one of the many computers. "I just disabled the computers, the only person that should notice is Tim but he's in on the plan so it doesn't matter". He turned towards the zeta tube and punched in his code "I'll see you there", and then he was gone.

Dick turned to face her, he had his dark sunglasses on so she couldn't see his eyes, she really hated it when he had to wear them. "Are you ready 'Miss?" he asked.

"Yeah I am, I've missed everyone, and I'm glad to be a part of the team again". She answered with a smile.

Dick smiled and pulled her in for a quick hug "I'll see you in a few minutes, don't get too lost".

Artemis smiled and punched him in the arm pushing him towards the zeta tube, he smirked at her punched in his code and then he was gone.

When Dick got to the cave everyone was already in the briefing room, he took his normal seat between Tim and Barbara, and waited for Batman to begin, he pulled his phone out and had it hidden in his hands so he could text Artemis when it was time.

"I've called you all here because I have found the team a new archer, they will be here in a few minutes, I have been training this person for the last month, so I know that they are qualified and ready to join this team. Is there any questions or concerns?" Batman asked

Ollie spoke up from his place next to Black Canary, "Yeah, why exactly did me Canary and Zatanna have to be here for this?".

Batman looked at him with a hard glare, Dick knew it was fake though, "I figured you should be here because this person will be the team's new archer, you can help them, Black Canary is here because she trains the team, and Zatanna is here because I asked her to be. Any more questions?".

Dick texted Artemis telling her it was time. He could hear the zeta tube activate but no one else heard it besides Batman and Tim. Being as impatient as ever Connor asked "So where is this new person?"

"Why don't you turn around Suppey?" Artemis said from the door way, she was leaning on the door frame with her arms crossed; she had a huge smile on her face. Everyone whipped their head around to see who it was, Zatanna and M'gann both screamed and yelled "Artemis", they were in such a hurry to get to their friend that they both knocked over their chairs, both girls pounced on Artemis, they ended up falling to the ground in a big heap. Ollie was right behind the girls, he stood waiting for them to break up, and when they did he pulled the girl that he saw as a niece into his arms and hugged her tightly, Artemis returned the hug, she had missed her uncle. Soon everyone was gathered around Artemis hugging her and asking her questions, only Tim, Dick, Barbara, and Batman remained at the table. Barbara elbowed Dick in the side and said "Is that the same Artemis Crock that we went to school with that you trolled all the time?"

Dick smiled at her and said "The very same, she's also the same superhero Artemis from the original team".

Barbara smiled she always knew that Dick had a crush on Artemis, even though the two dated their senior year in high school they were still best friends, being in a relationship together just wasn't for them, they ended things on equal terms their friendship meant more to them and they didn't want to ruin it.

After a couple of minutes of everyone welcoming Artemis back to the team, Batman called everyone back to the table so that they could talk about the mission that was coming up. Artemis sat down between Ollie and Zatanna, she had a big smile on her face, she looked truly happy.

After being briefed about the mission and Artemis reconnecting with her old friends, she and Dick had to leave so that they could patrol Gotham, he changed into his Nightwing costume and she changed into her costume. It felt great to be jumping from the rooftops of her home town, and to do it with Dick was great to, even though he was mostly serious about the patrol he still joked around and flirted with her. It wasn't a very eventful evening; they stopped a couple of robberies, and some gang members from starting a war. It felt great to be back and helping people in any way that she could, she missed the adrenaline she felt when she ran across rooftops, yeah it wasn't a very exciting night but it was the perfect way to get back into the routine.


	8. Chapter 8

I Need You Chapter 8

It had been two months since Artemis moved into Wayne mansion, and one month since Artemis rejoined the team. There had been a couple of major missions where Artemis had gotten hurt, couple of bruised ribs, dislocated shoulder, couple broken fingers, just minor things like that. And every time Dick was there, he never left her side, they fought together side by side, they worked really well together they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. They trained together, either at the bat cave or the training room in the cave. Artemis, Zatanna, and M'gann had gotten really close as well, she told them about her brake up with Wally and how Nightwing had helped her. Dick and Artemis had gotten closer, on nights that they were patrolling they would often play truth or dare, they usually didn't do dare's very often, what are you supposed to dare a superhero, they both already take on criminals twice their size and jump from rooftops. Artemis found out a lot of stuff about Dick that she had missed while she was Wally; she never realized she had missed so much. Like the fact that Dick and Barbara had dated their senior year of high school, and she was the first girl that he had sex with, but they ended things on neutral terms, they both decided that their friendship meant more to them. When Dick told her that she felt like someone had punched her in the gut, she was jealous of Barbara, but she couldn't figure out why. He also told her that he and Zatanna had a brief relationship, but things ended when she got tired of him never showing her his true identity. Artemis was joking when she asked if he had sex with her while wearing his sunglasses, she didn't expect that to be the truth, but when he had that shitty grin on his face she knew it was the truth. Artemis really didn't like the fact that he had sex with two people who were her friends and that she worked with, but she didn't say anything to him about it.

Neither she nor Dick had heard anything from Wally, a couple of weeks ago the Flash had come to the cave for a meeting with Batman, the entire time he just glared at Artemis, she so badly wanted to yell at him that the brake up wasn't her fault, his nephew was the one who cheated, not her. Who knows what Wally told him but it obviously wasn't good, the entire time that the Flash was there Dick hadn't left her side, he didn't like the way he was glaring at her. The flash was getting ready to leave, but when he walked by her he glared at her, rolled his eyes and mumbled something that she couldn't hear, but Dick did.

All of a sudden Dick yelled and charged at the Flash; luckily Conner was standing close by and grabbed Dick before he could punch him. But that didn't stop Dick from yelling at him "You asshole, you don't say stuff like to Artemis, she is not the one who cheated, he did not her, get your facts straight before you call someone that you fucking bastard". Dick was trying very hard to get out of Conner's grasp, but Conner just held him tighter, Batman was just standing there he had never seen Dick act like that before, in fact no one had, it was one thing for Dick to lose his temper and punch someone like he did Wally but no one had ever seen him do this before. Quickly Artemis snapped out of her shock and walked up to Dick, she put one hand on his forearm and another on his cheek, she forced him to look at her, she couldn't see his eyes because of his mask which made her task harder but she could tell that he was truly upset, she could tell that his eyes were locked on hers by the way that his jaw slightly relaxed.

"Come on Nightwing, it's ok, I don't know what he said that has you so upset, but you and I know the truth of what happened and that's all that matters, it's ok Nightwing whatever he thinks doesn't matter". Artemis spoke in a soothing manner trying to calm him down. With every word that she spoke he calmed down, by the time she was done talking Conner no longer had to restrain Dick, he let go and took a step back, but he was sending a hard glare at the Flash who was standing there with his mouth open in shock. Artemis still had one hand on his forearm and another on his cheek, Dick said "You didn't hear what he said 'Miss".

Artemis smiled and said "It's ok Nightwing, I don't care what he said, what he thinks doesn't matter, obviously Wally told him a lie so it would look like he was the victim, but you and I know the truth, it doesn't matter Nightwing, ok, just calm down, I don't want you doing something stupid". She started rubbing his cheek with her hand, he leaned his head into her hand.

He sighed and said "Alright 'Miss". She smiled and pulled her hand away from his cheek, but he quickly grabbed it and intertwined their fingers. Someone coughed behind them Dick's head snapped up and immediately his cold glare returned and he stiffened, Artemis turned around; it was the Flash who coughed.

"I heard you say that Wally lied, he told me that he walked in on you and Nightwing sleeping together, he said that you cheated and that Sophia comforted him". Flash looked slightly uncomfortable but he still had an icy tone in his voice.

Dick laughed and went to get in his face, but Artemis pulled on his arm, she put a hand on his chest and said "Let me take care of this Nightwing", Dick nodded his head and Artemis let go of his hand and stepped towards her ex-boyfriends uncle. "What Wally told you was a lie, I am not the one who cheated, I came home from work and found him in our bed with Sophia, Nightwing helped me get my stuff the next day, when he had already moved on and had her on his arm, I did nothing wrong and neither did Nightwing, your nephew is the one who cheated and lied". Artemis looked ready to punch something; she was beyond pist that Wally would lie like that.

"I.. I'm sorry Artemis I didn't know, I just believed what he said, and then you came back onto the team and I just thought it was true, I'm sorry, I truly am, I hope you can forgive me". Flash stuck his hand out for her to shake.

Artemis grabbed his hand and shook it, "It's not you that I'm angry at, I'm angry at your nephew".

Flash smiled and said "I can understand why. I should be going I truly am sorry for what I said". Flash nodded his head to her and looked at Dick and then speed off in a blur of red. Artemis sighed and turned around to face Dick but only to find that everyone was staring at her. She hadn't told anyone besides M'gann and Zatanna the real reason that she and Wally broke up. Everyone was giving her sympathetic smiles, she didn't want that she didn't need their pity, she was over it, yes it still hurt thinking about what he did but that's because she trusted him. She shook her head when M'gann moved to hug her, she didn't need to be comforted what she needed was a stiff drink, she turned on her heel and headed towards the zeta tubes. She could hear footsteps running after her, she punched in the code for the bat cave and then she was gone, she knew it was Dick and that he would follow her here. She stepped out of the zeta and waited with her arms crossed, seconds later Dick stepped out. She spoke before he did "Come on get dressed were going out".

Dick didn't say anything he just followed her through the house until they got to their rooms. "So what kind of clothes should I wear?" Dick asked

"Just dress up but no need for a suite or anything like that just make yourself nice, I want to get drunk, I don't have patrol tomorrow or anything and I am not in a good mood so I am going to go out and get drunk, and you are going to be my wing man".

Dick raised an eyebrow at her "Uhh alright then but how do you expect me to get in I'm not twenty one yet".

Artemis just smirked "Come on Boy Wonder you're the son of a billionaire, I'm sure we can get you in, oh and call someone to book a hotel in New York, I really don't want to use a zeta tube while drunk". And with that she went into her bedroom to get dressed.

Thirty minutes later Dick and Artemis meet up in the hallway. Dick was wearing black jeans, with a black belt, a black button up shirt with a black tie and a gray jacket, it looked casual but yet dressy at the same time, his hair looked like he just ran his hand through it and called it good, he looked really hot. Artemis was wearing a dark green dress, it was strapless and showed quite a bit of cleavage, it hugged her breasts and stomach but once it got to her waist it loosened up and flowed to her knees, she was wearing black high heels, and she was wearing her hair down, she looked hot.

Artemis looked Dick up and down "You dress up nice boy wonder" Artemis thought that Dick looked extremely hot with the way his hair was.

Dick was checking out Artemis to, he never thought he would see her in a dress let alone heels, but God she looked hot, all the guys are going to be all over here, once that thought went through Dick's mind he instantly decided that he was not going to let happen. Finally he said "You clean up nice to 'Miss, never thought I would see you in a dress or heels, do you even know how to walk in them?" He said teasingly.

Artemis smirked and said "Of course I do, I might be a girl who likes to run around in combat boots kicking bad guys ass' but I know my way around heels too".

They headed towards the bat cave so that they could use the zeta tube. Dick had made a last minute reservation at The Plaza hotel, once he said he was the son of Bruce Wayne, they instantly booked him two rooms on the top floor. Dick also called the club Juliet and said that he and a friend were coming and they wanted a private table, when they asked who he was and he said that he was Bruce Wayne's son they immediately told him that they would have a private table ready for whenever he arrived. Sometimes being the son of a billionaire was nice. Both Dick and Artemis packed overnight bags, once they zeta tubed to New York Dick hailed a cab and told him to go to the Plaza hotel. Artemis was shocked she didn't expect him to get that kind of hotel, holy shit. Artemis thought the Wayne mansion was the most gorgeous thing she had ever stayed, the Plaza diffidently took over that spot, Dick had gotten them two adjoining suites on the top floor, they decided to drop off their bags before they went to the club. Once Artemis sat her bag on the bed and checked to make sure her hair and makeup was fine she meet Dick in the hallway. He stuck out his arm for her like the true gentlemen that he was, Artemis stuck her arm through his and headed towards the private car that would take them to the club and back to the hotel. Artemis had heard of club Juliet before because she watches Keeping up with the Kardashians, but she never expected to actually go there. The club was amazing, apparently Dick had called ahead and gotten them a private table, Artemis ordered an apple martini, while Dick ordered a coke.

"No drinking for the Boy Wonder tonight?" Artemis asked while taking a drink of her martini.

Dick smirked "You forget 'Miss I'm still underage, plus I don't really like drinking that much".

Artemis smiled and said "Neither do I but I had my boyfriend of six years cheat on me and then he lied to his uncle saying that I was the cheater so I want to have fun".

Dick smiled at her she grabbed his hand and said "Come dance with me". She dragged him onto the dance floor, Dick didn't know how long they stayed on the floor dancing, but somehow she had coaxed him into trying one of her drinks, Dick had a couple more drinks after that, and so did Artemis they stayed at the club until almost 2 in the morning. Artemis was at the point where she would start doing things that she normally wouldn't do and so was Dick. Once Dick and Artemis got into the car she laid her head in his lap and said "I like your eyes, they are the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen".

Dick smiled and ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "I like your hair you should wear it down more often".

Artemis smiled and sat up she looked at his lips, and then slowly moved her eyes upwards to meet his blue ones, he was staring at her lips to, when he looked at her in the eye and gave his famous super cute smirk, Artemis started leaning her head towards his, they both meet in the middle in a mind blowing kiss. All ability to think flew from Dicks head, she tasted like alcohol, but there was something different too something that was entirely her.

Artemis loved the way Dicks lips felt on hers, and how his hands felt on her cheek and arm, she needed to be closer to him so without breaking the kiss Artemis straddled Dicks lap, his hands moved to her waist to help support her, the kiss was getting more heated now. The car had pulled up in front of the Plaza, the driver coughed loudly and said "Mister Wayne were at the hotel now".

When the driver spoke Artemis pulled away causing Dick to groan, Artemis laughed and said "Come on Boy Wonder were at the hotel, maybe if you're good I'll kiss you again in the elevator". Artemis got off his lap and straightened her dress while Dick took a deep breath and opened the car door, he helped Artemis out of the car, and held his arm out to her which she gladly accepted, walking was a bit difficult even without the heels, but Dick seemed to be doing fine. Once the elevator doors closed Dick had Artemis pinned to the elevator wall, he had his arms on either side of her head, his eyes had gotten darker but not in a scary way, Dick leaned his head down and kissed her, Artemis put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her, Dick dropped his arms and picked her up underneath her butt, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he pressed her back into the elevator wall, when they elevator doors opened Dick looked to see what floor they were on when he saw that it was the top floor he quickly turned around and left the elevator, somehow they managed to make it to their room with Artemis' legs still wrapped around his waist, with one arm under her but to support her Dick got out the room key and opened the door, once inside he kicked it shut with his foot and started towards the bed. Gently Dick laid her on the bed, her lips were slightly swollen from kissing, her eyes had pure lust in them, he roamed his eyes over her body "Are you sure about this 'Miss?" His voice was thick with lust.

Artemis smirked she sat up on her elbows and said "If I truly didn't want this I wouldn't have kissed you in the car, drunk or not". Dick smirked and leaned down to kiss her. The next morning Artemis woke up with her head on the naked chest of Dick Grayson, his arms were wrapped around her waist, when Artemis looked down she noticed that the only thing covering them was a thin sheet, the bed was a complete mess, that's when the memories of last night came back, she had sex with her best friend.


	9. Chapter 9

I Need You Chapter 9

Holy shit Artemis Crock just had sex with Dick Grayson, her best friend. Since Dick's arms were wrapped around her waist, and the fact that she was very comfortable lying on his chest and having his arms securely wrapped around her she decided to just lay there and think about everything. Artemis will be the first to admit that Dick is very good looking, and he's a great guy, he's smart, loyal, he knows how to make her laugh, he knows her family history and doesn't judge her about it. They work great together, he understands her better than anyone, and he knows how to calm her down when she's angry just like she knows how to do with him. Artemis didn't know if she wanted to be in a relationship with another team member again, it's already hard enough to focus while working with Dick. She really cared for Dick on more than a friendship level; it was finally making sense why she was jealous of his past relationships with Zatanna and Barbara. Artemis loved the way that he made her feel, the way his strong arms both protected and soothed her, how he had a special smile that only she could bring out of him, she loved the way his lips felt on her own, and how his rough but smooth hands felt on her bare skin. Even though she was scared of getting into another relationship she knew doing it with Dick would be worth it. And hell last night was the best sex she had ever had, of course she had only ever been with Wally, but still Dick was amazing in every way possible. Artemis decided to look at the clock to see if she should wake up Dick or not, it was 8:30, Artemis internally groaned, it was her day off she was going to sleep in. So she snuggled deeper into Dick's warm chest and went back to sleep.

When Artemis woke up it was 10:30, when she rolled over to see if Dick was awake yet or not she found that the bed was empty, wondering where he could have gone she sat up pulling the sheet with her so that she was covered. She listened intently trying to figure out if he was in the shower or watching T.V. but she couldn't hear anything but the drowned out sounds of car horns. She stood from the bed she was looking for her clothes but couldn't find anything except Dick's shirt, so she put it on. She headed towards the bathroom so she could freshen up but before she was able to get there someone spoke from behind her "I thought I heard you awake". It was Dick, he was wearing his jeans from last night, since she was wearing his shirt she had a great view of his wonderfully sculptured chest, he was wearing his famous grin, his eyes were the shiniest she had ever seen them.

She smiled at him and said "Yeah I woke up and you weren't there, I was wondering where you had gone?"

Dick smiled and started walking towards her, when he reached her he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him; she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with the hairs on the back of his neck. "I called room service and ordered breakfast; it should be here any time".

Artemis smiled and said "Great because after what happened last night I am completely starved".

Dick gave her a boyish smile and said "Oh really Miss Crock, what exactly happened last night that has you completely starved".

Artemis laughed and punched him in the arm, mainly because he called her by that horrible last name, he faked a hurt face and gave her a super cute pouting look, Artemis smiled and kissed him, he quickly reacted and started kissing her back, things were starting to get heated again, but before she could even start to remove his jeans there was a knock on the door and a voice saying "Room service". Dick pulled away and groaned his eyes were full of lust again.

Artemis smiled kissed his cheek and said "Go get the door Boy Wonder, maybe if your good we can have a repeat of last night" She walked away towards the bathroom, but when she looked over her shoulder her was still standing there staring at her, she winked at him before shutting the bathroom door.

Ten minutes later Artemis walked out of the bathroom, she was still wearing Dick's shirt, but she had brushed her hair and managed to find her underwear to put on. When she came out to the main room Dick had set up all of the food on the table and was in the middle of pouring the coffee. When he heard her walk in he looked up and smiled at her. "I ordered some waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns, with some coffee and orange juice along with some Advil, I wasn't sure about you but I have a killer headache".

Artemis gave him a grateful smile and said "That sounds wonderful, I have a headache to but it isn't too bad." Dick pulled out the chair for her so that she could sit down; he pushed the chair in and went to sit across from her.

"You know you're very sexy in my shirt 'Miss". Dick said with a smile.

Artemis blushed and looked at her plate to start eating. After she was done with her breakfast Dick stood up grabbed her hand and led her to the couch, he sat down and pulled her into his lap, she laid one hand on his chest running her fingers over all the different scars, while the other hand went behind his head to play with his unruly black hair. He wrapped one arm around her waist while the other was running up and down her legs, occasionally lingering on the different scars that she had there.

"Shouldn't we be heading back soon?" Artemis asked.

"I talked with Bruce this morning; he said we didn't have to be back until dinner because I have to take Tim on patrol while he does some business". Dick answered.

"So that means that we have plenty of time to have a repeat of last night then". Artemis said while running her hand down his chest.

Dick smiled and said "Yes, but I was thinking that we could talk a bit before we did that".

Artemis sighed and said "Your right we do need to talk". Instead of looking Dick in the eye she looked down in her lap, he was still running his hand up and down her legs; she grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers, she was staring at their hands while she spoke. "Last night was amazing Dick, and I really care about you, I want you to be more than my best friend, but I'm scared, and I don't know if I want to mix my personal life and super hero life again, and what would Bruce think of this?" She still refused to look at him just staring at their intertwined hands.

"Look at me 'Miss" when she looked into his face he was smiling at her, "I know you're scared, I'm scared to and it doesn't matter what Bruce thinks, he knows that I care about you, the only thing that matters is what you and I want, I know it'll be hard considering our night time activities but we can make it work, I want to make this worse 'Miss, hell I've had a crush on you since I was thirteen". Dick pulled his hand away from hers and touched a button on his watch, it turned into his holographic computer, he pulled up his pictures and clicked on one that Artemis remembered very well. It was the one that he took on her first day at Gotham Academy. "What I feel for you is no longer just a stupid crush. I want to be in a relationship with you, I want you to be my girlfriend" Dick looked her straight in the eye and said "I love you Artemis Crock, and I want to be in a relationship with, and if I have to wait until your ready then I will".

Artemis had tears in her eyes he just told her that he wanted to be in a relationship with her and that he loved her. Even though Artemis was scarred she knew that she loved Dick to and she wanted to take the leap of faith and be in a relationship with him. She put both of her hands on his face and said "I want to be in a relationship with you Dick, I want to make this work" she hesitated a bit "I love you to Dick".

Dick gave her that special smile that only she could get out of him, he grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, their lips meet in the middle in a mind blowing kiss, she turned so that she was straddling him, he pulled her closer to him. "Come on we have a couple of hours before we have to go back". Artemis smiled and got up to pull him towards the bedroom.

At 3 o'clock they left the bed and started getting ready to go back to Gotham, it took a while since Dick didn't want her to go back to her own room but eventually he agreed. They left the hotel hand in hand the car from last night was waiting for them in front, it took a while to get back to the zeta because of the traffic, by the time they made it back to the bat cave it was six o'clock. Tim was waiting for them he was already dressed in his Robin costume. "It's about time you two showed up, we have to get going, I don't feel like getting my but chewed out by Batman because you were late".

Dick smiled and said "Alright give us a minute and we'll go".

"Alright but you only have a minute, no funny business you two". Tim winked at them before turning around and heading towards his motorcycle.

Dick turned to Artemis and said "I gotta go I don't feel like being chewed out either".

Artemis smiled and said "I understand, just be careful okay". She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, he quickly returned the kiss and brought her closer, they were interrupted though because Tim started coughing.

Dick pulled away and said "I'll see you in the morning". He gave her a quick kiss and turned to towards the locker room where he kept his Nightwing costume. She waved at Tim before she turned around to go upstairs, she had homework that she needed to get done, and now was the perfect time to do so since Dick wasn't there to distract her, plus it would distract her from worrying. She always worried when he went on patrol without her.

Alfred brought her a sandwich and some chips while she was working on her homework. If Artemis passed this last couple of classes she would be ready to graduate with a degree in business. Ever since she was little she wanted to work for Wayne Enterprises but now that she was dating Bruce Wayne's adopted son she didn't know if that would be appropriate, plus she wanted to get the job on her own not because she knew the owner and his son. Finally around one o'clock in the morning she had finished all of her homework and emailed it to her teachers. She didn't know when Dick and Tim would get off patrol, so she laid in bed thinking about the incredible day that she had with her new boyfriend, yes most of it consisted of being in the bedroom but still it was a great day, eventually she fell asleep with a goofy smile on her face.


	10. Chapter 10

I Need You Chapter 10

Artemis woke up to her alarm clock beeping, but when she went to roll over to turn it off she rolled into the body of Dick Grayson, her boyfriend. What the hell was he doing in her bed, she was pretty sure that she had gone to bed alone. Dick was wearing grey sweat pants and a black t-shirt, he was cute when he slept his mouth was slightly opened and he was drooling a little bit, perfect teasing material for her. If he managed to sleep through her alarm clock then he must have had a rough night, plus he had a bruise on his left cheek bone. She decided to let him sleep she kissed his cheek and got up to get ready. She had to be in Star City in a couple of hours, she was supposed to meet with Ollie so that they could catch up and train a little bit, she was really looking forward to it, she hadn't spent time with her fake uncle in a long time.

When she stepped out of the bathroom in her workout clothes and hair in a ponytail she found Dick just waking up, he was laying on the bed stretching while yawning. Artemis smiled and walked over to the bed Dick scooted over so that she could sit down, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around his waist giving him a sideways hug, he gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

"So I was pretty sure that I went to bed alone last night, but when I woke up my super cute but drooling boyfriend was in my bed".

Dick gave her a sheepish smile and said "Yeah I got home around three and I wanted to see you, it was kind of a rough night, some guy who was strung out on meth was holding his wife and two daughter's hostage because he thought the FBI was after them. So I snuck in here slightly hoping that my beautiful and understanding girlfriend who snores in her sleep would be awake, but you were asleep, and I kind of just passed out before I could leave".

Artemis smiled and kissed his cheek, but then she punched him in the arm "I do not snore in my sleep". Dick pouted at her as he rubbed the now sore spot on his arm. She rolled her eyes and gave him a quick kiss before standing up she needed to get her shoes on grab something for breakfast and then leave for Star City.

She was standing at her desk checking to make sure that she had everything she needed in her duffle bag when she felt strong familiar arms wrap around her waist. Dick nuzzled his face into her neck and gave her small kisses trailing to her ear and back down. Artemis closed her eyes and leaned her head back giving him more room. "Where are you going?" Dick asked between kisses.

"I'm going to Star City to have some uncle and niece time with Ollie; it's been a long time since we've spent time together". When Artemis said uncle and niece she used air quotes with her fingers.

Dick laughed and said "That's good you should spend some time with him, he's missed you these past couple of years. When you first left he was a lot more upset then he let on".

Artemis sighed she knew that Ollie had been upset "I know and I fell really bad about that and the fact that I never visited him, I was just so wrapped up in starting college and being with Wally that I completely ignored everyone". When Artemis brought up Wally Dick's arms tightened a little bit and his face took a darker look. The fact that his arms tightened at the mention of Wally didn't go unnoticed by Artemis, she turned around in his arms to see that his face wasn't as care free and happy as before. She grabbed his face in both her hands and said "Relax Dick, what happened with Wally is in the past, and what he told his uncle doesn't matter either ok. The only thing that matters is us and our relationship. I've got to get going walk me down to breakfast and to the zeta will you?" Dick nodded his head his face relaxing a bit, she smiled and gave him a quick kiss. She turned out his embrace grabbed her jacket cell phone and duffle bag; she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the hallway. Hand in hand they walked to the kitchen where she sat her bag down and grabbed a bagel and cream cheese, while Dick ate a bowl of cereal, even though he had matured a lot since she first meet him he still liked to act like a kid sometimes, and Artemis loved that about him. After they both ate Dick grabbed her hand and led her to the bat cave, once they were in front of the zeta he pulled her into his chest for a hug, once she pulled away she stood up on her tip toes and kissed him.

When she pulled away he groaned and said "Alright I'll let you go, I've got to go the cave any way Batman wants me to fix the security stuff. Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

"I don't know, we could meet up for dinner if you aren't still busy at the cave, just text me if you can or not, if you can't maybe I can have dinner with Ollie and Dinah".

"Ok sounds good, I'll see you later tonight". Dick gave her another kiss before she stepped into the zeta and punched in the code for Star City.

She and Ollie had just gotten done using his personal archery range at his house. It was nice to train with him again; she didn't realize that she missed it so much. They had just meet with Dinah in the kitchen to have lunch when all three of their distress calls went off. It was coming from the young justice team, but they were calling in help from the justice league too. All three of them changed into their costumes and used the zeta tube to get to the cave. All of the young justice team along with their mentors was there strangely Batman was missing. Nightwing was talking with Robin and Batgirl so she walked over there to see what was going on. It was extremely hard not to wrap her arms around him and kiss him, Jesus he looked good in his Nightwing costume.

"So what's with the distress call?" she asked.

Nightwing looked really pist off, even though he was wearing his mask she knew that his eyes were black instead of blue "It's the Injustice league all of them, they're planning something we don't know what yet but we think it's supposed to be a distraction for the light which is why Batman said it would be best to call in the justice league to". He hesitated for a second before he spoke again "Artemis there's something I need to tell, I didn't want to do it but Batman said I had to do it, I had to call in Wally, that's who were waiting for". Nightwing spoke with a hard voice.

Artemis was shocked she knew that having both Flash and Wally there would be best for the team, but she was not ready to face him let alone fight alongside with him again. Artemis put her hand on Nightwing's arm hoping to calm him down a little bit, she knew him being angry like this was dangerous for himself and the team "It's ok Nightwing, I understand why you had to do it, just calm down alright, I'll stay as far away from him as possible, but I need you to think with a clear head ok, everything will be fine". Nightwing nodded his head and took a deep breath releasing it through his nose.

That's when the zeta tube went off announcing Wally West, "Alright I'm here what's the huge distress signal for". Nightwing slightly stiffened again but Artemis just squeezed his arm, Artemis couldn't look at him, just hearing his voice made her want to shoot at him.

Nightwing stepped to the front of the room so that he could explain everything.

"Alright we received information that the entire injustice league is planning something, we don't know what their planning yet, but we think it has something to do with the light. We know that they are operating out of India. Our plan is for all us to go there using the bio ship, we will all be able to go with M'gann expanding it, each member of the young justice team is to be partnered with their mentor, each of us will go to specific areas and infiltrate their headquarters".

"Who made you the new Batman _Nightwing_" Wally said.

Nightwing turned towards him and in a very dangerous voice said "Batman did, he can't come he is busy dealing with personal aspects. If you have a problem with that then you just need to get over it".

Everyone agreed to the plan that Nightwing had set out and gathered together with their mentors, since Batman wasn't their Batgirl and Robin were with Nightwing. After everyone was ready to go they all piled into the bio ship, Superman and Conner were standing next to each other with their arms crossed over their chests they did not look happy. Nightwing stood close to Artemis and whispered in her ear, "Stay safe alright, I don't want anything happening to you".

Artemis looked him in the eye and said "The same goes for you Boy Wonder". A couple of minutes later they had arrived at their destinations everyone jumped out of the bio ship when it came to their locations, once it was Artemis and Green Arrows she turned to Nightwing and winked at him, he gave her a small smile back. She zipped down the cord until she landed on the rough ground with Green Arrow next to her; they quickly drew their bow and arrows and headed towards their spot. They didn't meet any guards or traps on the way, once they were in place Artemis used the mind link to say that she and Green Arrow were in place. Once everyone checked in Nightwing said to move in, when she nodded to Green Arrow he shot his grappling arrow up at a four story window when it attached to the wall he pressed a button and shot up to the window that he climbed through once he was in Artemis did the same thing. They made it through the first room and half of the hall way before they ran into any trouble. They quickly knocked the henchmen out, and continued on, they made it to the third floor before they ran into more henchmen, this took more time to do so Artemis received a cut on the cheek from a thrown knife but it wasn't too bad, she also received a cut on her rib cage from another henchmen's sword, it wasn't too deep but it stung like hell, she quickly wrapped it in bandage to stop the bleeding. They finally made it to the main room; it was a huge room the size of two football fields long and at least thirty feet high ceilings. There were plenty of beams and things like that for Nightwing and Robin to fly across. But the room really didn't have much cover, if the joker and his henchmen came out with guns things are going to get really ugly really fast. Green Arrow tells Artemis to go up on one of the cat walks and hide in the shadows and to make sure that she has a good view of the room and can get good shots off. Artemis goes up the cat walk and finds the perfect spot, she sits in a crouching position waiting, she doesn't have to wait long when all of a sudden the floor in the middle of the room comes apart and all of the injustice league come flying out along with the league of shadows, thankfully Artemis did not see her sister Cheshire there. Right when the league of shadows and the injustice league came out all of the doors and a couple of walls were busted open by the rest of the young justice team and their mentors, that's when the fight broke out, Artemis did her best to hit the enemy and not anyone on her team, she could she Robin and Batgirl flying around the beams throwing batarangs but she didn't see Nightwing anywhere. She could see the blur of Flash and Wally running around the room and punching people, everyone was fighting someone. She kept scanning the room looking for Nightwing while shooting arrows. Finally she spotted him, he was fighting on the floor with the Joker, they both were moving around so much that she couldn't safely get a shot at the Joker. After a couple of minutes Nightwing was able to defeat the Joker and had him tied in rope, the fighting was starting to slow down, she was just getting ready to go to the main floor and help round up the last of the remaining villains when she heard the familiar cold laugh from behind her, instantly her blood turned ice, she knew that laugh, that's the laugh that haunted her as a child, the laugh that drove away her only sister. She gripped her bow tighter and turned around to face Sportsmaster, also known as her father Lawrence Crock.


	11. Chapter 11

I Need You Chapter 11

What the hell was Sportsmaster doing here; he usually didn't play this kind of game. "It's nice to see you again Artemis it's been a long time, I heard that you had left the team with that red headed speedster".

Artemis swallowed the fear that was building in her throat and spoke in what she hoped what was a strong voice "Why do you care, are you suddenly going to pull the daddy act and pretend that you care?"

Sportsmaster laughed and said "I've always cared about you Artemis, your my pride and joy, after you sister left you were the only one I could train to take over the family business. I am here to give you the chance to fight with me Artemis fight with the Light before it's too late and I am forced to kill you and all of your little super hero friends".

"I've told you once and I'll tell you again, I will not join you, I am no longer the little girl that you can manipulate and scare to do whatever you want, you no longer have control over me".

Sportsmaster was getting mad now, she could tell by the way that his fist were clenching and his breathing got more labored, she was always able to tell when her father was getting angry, which meant that he was getting close to hitting her, as a child she would do anything to keep that from happening, but now she didn't care she wasn't going to be scarred of him anymore.

When he spoke she could tell that he was trying to keep the anger out of his voice, "You are my daughter Artemis, I will always have control over you, I know who you really are Artemis you want to fight with the Light".

"Your being delusional father, you do not know me, you never have, if you actually knew me you would know that I have always admired the work of my mentor Green Arrow, why do you think I choose the green for my costume, Green Arrow has been more of a father to me than you ever have or ever will. You no longer have control over me Lawrence". God it felt good to say that to him. He was pist now, she could tell by his body that he was getting ready to hit her, but she was ready for it, he swung his right fist at her face, quickly she stepped back and pushed his arm back so that he stumbled, he quickly regained his footing and came back at her full force, she couldn't back up anymore she was at railing of the cat walk, she waited until the last minute and tried to dive out of the way. But he saw that and grabbed her hair, yanking her down to the ground so that the wind was knocked out her lungs.

He stood above her breathing heavily "You're going to pay for that daughter dearest". He clenched his fist and brought it back to punch her in the face. She was fast enough though she swung her bow at the same time and was able to deflect the punch, he was stunned for a minute she quickly brought her legs up and kicked him in the chest she used the momentum from the kick to roll backwards until she was in a crouching position, she quickly stood up turned around and ran, he was blocking the way that she had came up, she wasn't sure if there were stairs or a ladder on the other end, she could hear him running after her, she couldn't see stairs or a ladder just a wall, she passed a rope and quickly grabbed it she pulled one of her claw arrows and tied it to it still running she only hoped that she tied it tightly, she wrapped the other end around her wrist she was going to have a horrible rope burn but that didn't matter she had to get away from Sportsmaster, quickly she looked over her shoulder, shit he was gaining on her and she was nearing the end of the cat walk she had to do this now, she strung the arrow ran at the railing put her right foot on the top rail and pushed off she quickly shot the arrow at the concrete wall, thankfully it took hold but she wasn't sure if it would hold her weight, she braced for the impact of the wall, she put her feet out a little ways so that they would hit the wall first, her feet hit first but God it still hurt like hell, she was dangling at least fifteen feet from the ground, she had to drop soon blood was starting to run down her arm from where the rope was cutting into her skin. Quickly she grabbed onto the rope with her left arm and pulled up while she unwound her right wrist from the rope and let it drop as far as it could go, she slide down the rope, it didn't make the ground any closer, she took a deep breath and dropped to the ground she bent her knees trying to brace herself for the impact, when she hit the floor she landed on her feet with her knees bent but her left ankle was hurting like hell, when she went to stand up pain shot through her entire leg, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath, when she looked up at the cat walk Sportsmaster was gone, she didn't expect him to stick around. The fight was almost over just a couple more villains to wrap up and transport to jail. She grabbed the bandage out of the special compartment in her sheath and wrapped it around her wrist. She took a deep breath and pushed herself off the wall, she didn't think her ankle was broken but it diffidently was a bad sprain, putting any kind of pressure on it caused her horrible pain.

Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and had to lean against one of the metal pillars, she slid down the pillar and put her leg out in front of her, eventually M'gann came flying over to her, "Artemis are you ok?" She looked down and noticed her wrist, "What happened to your arm? Can you walk?"

"Rope burn, and no I think I sprained my ankle pretty badly" was Artemis reply.

M'gann activated the mind link again and called out "Artemis is hurt, she can't walk, she needs to be taken to the bio ship". Artemis didn't hear anyone reply, but in a matter of seconds it was no longer M'gann standing in front of her, it was Nightwing. He didn't look hurt except he had some new bruises on his face, but that was it.

Nightwing had a face of concern on "Are you alright 'Miss?"

"Ran into daddy dearest up on the catwalk, had to tie a rope to an arrow and jump from the catwalk, dropped about fifteen feet to the ground" she said it all like it was nothing, she pointed towards the wall were her arrow and rope still hung.

"Holy shit Artemis you could have gotten seriously hurt."

"Doing that was a whole lot better than getting the shit beat out of me by Sportsmaster".

Nightwing sighed and said "I know. Come on let's get you to the bio ship". Dick went to pick her up bridal style when he accidently touched the cut on her rib cage she hissed in pain; he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Got cut by one of the henchmen's swords" she replied with a shrug. Nightwing took a deep breath and shook his head, he picked her up bridal style she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest, she felt safe being in his arms. After a couple of minutes they made it back to the bio ship, a couple of people were already on there, Wally being one of them, he had a knife sticking out of his leg it was already wrapped in bandage, but no one must have felt safe pulling it out until they got back to the cave. Nightwing just walked right past him to a spot as far away as possible, he gently sat her down and went to grab one of the first aid kits, she could feel Wally's eyes on her but she just ignored him and stared into Nightwing's face. First he unwrapped the bandage from around her side, it must have started bleeding again when she did her wall stunt because there was a lot of fresh blood, he placed some gaze on it and then wrapped clean bandages around it. Then he took her left ankle and gently placed a stint onto it so that she couldn't move it. He took her right arm and unwrapped the horrible bandaging job that she did, it looked horrible, there was left over pieces from the rope in her skin, it was still bleeding though, he poured some antiseptic onto it which caused her to hiss in pain, and then he wrapped clean bandage around it.

He looked up into her face and said "Your side is going to need stitches, it's not very deep though, your ankle seems to be a really bad sprain so you're going to have to stay off of it for a while, and your wrist has pieces of the rope in it, which is going to take forever to get out but it'll get infected if not, you probably aren't going to be able to shoot for a while though".

Artemis sighed and said "Thank you". Nightwing smiled and grabbed her uninjured hand, Wally was still glaring at them but neither cared, Nightwing sat down in the seat next to her and she laid her head on his shoulder. Twenty minutes later everyone came back onto the bio ship, only a couple of people were injured, quickly they were on their way back to the cave. When the bio ship landed Nightwing picked up Artemis bridle style and carried her to the medical bay were the doctors were prepped and ready. Nightwing didn't leave her side once, he sat there the entire time holding her hand and moving her hair out of her face. They asked the doctors to put up a privacy wall because Wally was only a couple of beds over. She had to get twenty stitches into her side, and she had to wear a boot on her ankle for two weeks. The worst part was when they cleaned the rope burns on her wrist, it took two tortuous hours the pain pills they had given her didn't help at all, she tried to hold in the tears but after fifteen minutes she couldn't do it anymore and had to let them fall. Nightwing just wiped them away and whispered soothing words into her ear, once the doctors were done they wrapped her arm in a thick layer of bandages and told her that she couldn't use her bow for two weeks. After they left Nightwing continued to sit with her, he just continued to play with her hair, eventually she fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

I Need You Chapter 12

Artemis woke to a bright light and the annoying beeping of all the machines around her. She had to blink a couple of times in order for her eyes to adjust to the bright lights. Dick was sitting in the chair next to her bed, he was leaning forward so that his arms were on her bed next to her side, he was using them as pillows, he was in civilian clothes but he had his stupid sunglasses on, she hated it when he had to wear them. Slowly Artemis pushed herself up in the bed so that she was sitting up, the pain in her wrist and side were the worst, she really had to go pee, getting up was going to be hard and painful, but she really had to go and didn't want to wake up Dick. Slowly she swung her feet so that they were parallel to the floor, she took a deep breath and slowly stood up, there were a pair of crutches next to the bed so she grabbed those to help her walk since putting pressure on her ankle even with the boot was still painful. Slowly she made it to the bathroom without any problems, it was when she came out of the bathroom that she ran into trouble.

When she came out Wally was standing there against the wall, he had his arms crossed over his chest, and his face set in a straight line. When he saw her come out he stood up and dropped his arms, he looked at her and said "Hey Arty how are you feeling?" He asked her like nothing had happened like the fact that he didn't cheat on her.

She glared at him and spoke with a lot of venom in her voice that he slightly winced "Don't you dare Hey Arty me, you ass whole, you have no right talking to me like nothing ever happened. You cheated on me and then moved straight on with that whore Sophia, then you told your uncle that I was the one who cheated. Who do you think you are to make up that kind of crap about me? And then walk in here like nothing happened?" Artemis was breathing heavily.

Wally sighed and looked down "I know I was wrong and that I hurt you and I'm sorry about that there's no excuse for what I did to you. I was wrong to tell my uncle that you were the one who cheated, I just didn't want him to know the truth, I didn't want to disappoint him. He came by and told me that you had told him the truth he yelled at me for a long time, and I know that I deserve a lot more than that. But I was also hurt that you had moved on with Nightwing that's why I said it".

"What the hell do you mean that you were hurt when I moved on with Nightwing, I had nowhere else to go, he helped me get over the pain that you caused, and what happens between Nightwing and I is absolutely none of your business".

"I know that Artemis, I was just upset that you moved onto my best friend, I lost my girlfriend and my best friend, all because I did a horribly stupid thing that I'm paying for". Wally looked her straight in the eye and continued talking "I am truly sorry Artemis, you didn't deserve that, you deserve someone a lot better than me and Nightwing is that man, and I want to make things right between us. I will always care about you Artemis and I want you to be happy, and if Nightwing does that than I just have to learn to deal with that, but I want my friendship with you and Nightwing back I know it'll take time but I really need that right now" Wally sighed and looked down at his shoes before he spoke again "Sophia's pregnant and it's my baby".

Artemis sucked in a breath she felt like she had just been slammed to the ground by her father again, "How…. How far along is she?"

"Almost four months along".

Artemis was upset but when she looked up at Wally she noticed that Nightwing was standing behind him a little ways away, she thought how happy she was with him and how she had never felt this way about someone before. He made her happy, and every touch and every kiss sent butterflies through her stomach, even though she was upset with Wally she knew it was time to let go and move on with Dick. She looked at Wally who looked a little scared, "Are you going to stay with her, and support her and the baby?"

Wally looked shocked that she had asked him that but he answered quickly "Yes I am, I've always wanted a family, yes it's happening sooner than I had hoped but I'm happy, and scared, and I do care about Sophia. But I knew that I needed to apologize to you, I understand that we won't be able to have our old friendship back".

Artemis took a deep breath and motioned for Nightwing to come over to her when he started walking she spoke again "Thank you for apologizing, it doesn't make everything alright, but I except your apology. And since your being so honest with me and I know how hard that is for you, I want to be honest with you also, Nightwing and I have started a relationship, but we just started it a couple of days ago". By that time Nightwing had made it to them, he had an emotionless face on, and when he reached Artemis he put his arm around her waist.

Wally looked at Nightwing and said "I'm sorry for what I did and what I said, can you forgive me?" he stuck his hand out, Nightwing looked at him and then looked at Artemis when he saw that she was smiling at him and nodded her head yes he gave a small smile and shook Wally's hand. "I'm happy for you two I really am, I'm glad that your happy Artemis, and you to Nightwing, just take care of her and treat her better than I ever did".

Nightwing nodded and said "I will, just promise us that you'll take care of your kid and Sophia, and that'll you'll treat her better to".

Wally nodded his head and said "I will. I should get going Sophia's probably worried. I know that our friendships will never be the same but I'm hoping that we can try".

Nightwing and Artemis nodded their heads and smiled at him, Wally smiled and waved before he left the medical ward, after the door closed Nightwing turned to look her in the eye he smiled grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her. It was a slow kiss passionate kiss, saying all of the things that neither one could put into words, it said how much they loved each other, and how much they cared about each other. They didn't break apart until air became necessary. When they did Nightwing put his forehead against hers and said "I was so worried about you 'Miss, I'm glad that you're okay".

She smiled at him and said "I'm glad that you're okay to".

He pulled away from her and said "Come on let's get you back to the mansion so that you can rest".

Artemis smiled, they left the medical ward together, since Artemis was still using the crutches they weren't holding hands but he had his hand on her lower back in a comforting way. When they got to the living room Conner, M'gann, and Tim were sitting on the couch, when they heard them come in they all got up and ran to Artemis, Conner and M'gann were talking to her while Dick and Tim went over to the side and started talking, she couldn't hear what they were saying but she could tell that they were both worried about something. After a couple of minutes Dick came back to her side and said that they should get going because Artemis needed to rest, after saying good bye they made their ways to the zeta tubes. Artemis went first and Dick followed seconds later. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist; she reached up with her uninjured hand and pulled his sunglasses off so that she could see his beautiful blue eyes. "There that's better, I hate it when you have to wear those".

Dick smile and put his forehead on hers, "Me too they get annoying after a while, come on let's get you upstairs and into bed. Are you hungry I could have Alfred make you something?"

"Some soup would be nice".

Dick smiled and said "Of course let's get you in bed first though alright". Dick led her inside the house and through the kitchen but when they got to the stairs he took the crutches from her leaned them against the railings, and picked her up bridal style and carried her the rest of the way to her room, somehow he was able to open the door without putting her down, he walked inside and laid her on the bed, he covered her with the blankets and kissed her head "I'll go get you that soup ok, I'll be back in a minute".

Artemis smiled and said "Thank you boy wonder".

Dick laughed and left, Artemis took a deep breath and relaxed into her warm comfortable bed, she grabbed the remote from the night stand and flicked through the channels on the T.V. after ten minutes Dick came back with two bowel of soup on a tray, he sat the tray across her lap, and carefully sat down next to her on the bed.

"You are a great boyfriend" Artemis said.

"Well thank you but I'm only great because of how wonderful my girlfriend is". Artemis smiled and kissed him on the cheek, they watched T.V. and ate their soup together, after they were done Dick got up and put the tray on the desk, Artemis was starting to feel tired from all the day's events, Dick sat down and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, she laid her head on his shoulder and yawned.

Dick smiled and asked "You tired 'Miss?"

She nodded her head yes so he said "Here let's lay down then so your more comfortable and can take a nap", so they lay down together on the bed, she laid her head on his chest and draped her arm around his stomach, he kissed he on the head and said "I love you".

Sleepily Artemis smiled and said "I love you to". Dick kissed her on the head and started playing with her hear lulling her to sleep, eventually she fell asleep to the steady beat of his heart.


	13. Chapter 13

I Need You Chapter 13

It had been a week since her fight with her father. She was able to walk now without crutches but the boot on her ankle was big, bulky, and annoying. The rope burns had started to heal which was good but it also meant a lot of itching, one day Dick caught here unwrapping the bandages and scratching the hell out of her arm, she scratched it so much that she made it bleed without realizing it, Dick called a doctor to come and rewrap the bandages, then both he and Alfred lectured her about scratching at her wrist saying how it could get it infected and blah blah blah, it took a lot of will power not to just get up and walk out of the room. She hadn't seen Bruce or Batman since the week that she had been on house arrest, Dick Tim and Alfred seemed worried about it but they weren't saying anything about it and Artemis didn't ask. Dick made her call her mom and her tell her what happened, so everyday her mom would call and they would talk for a couple of hours. It was nice to talk with her like that. Especially since Dick had taken over the duties of Batman, he was hardly ever at the mansion, and she missed him. Dick did make time for her though; he took her to a romantic and very expensive dinner one night. Artemis had two weeks left of her online classes and then she would be ready to graduate in four weeks. Since Artemis had so much time alone she had thought about moving out of Wayne mansion, she loved being here and being so close to Dick, but she felt that she needed to be on her own and have her own space. She wasn't sure how Dick would take it but she started looking at apartments and jobs online. She figured that she would apply at Wayne Enterprises figuring that Bruce most likely wasn't in charge of hiring employees; she also applied at some smaller companies.

She was looking at a really nice and super cheap apartment when there was a knock on her door, and then someone opening it, it was Dick he was wearing a black Gucci suit, he had a board meeting that morning, he looked tired and stressed but when he saw her his eyes light up and he gave her that special smile. She shut her lap top and sat it on her nightstand, she stood up and walked over to him, he was taking off his jacket and placed it on her desk chair, he had just started on his tie when she reached him "Hey babe, how was the board meeting?" she asked

Dick groaned and kept working on his tie he wasn't doing a very good job at taking it off so she reached up and did it herself while he talked. "It was long and boring, Bruce's absence is starting to get noticed and people keep questioning me about it, I have no idea what he's up to, he just keeps saying that it's important and he'll be back next week, Tim and I both have tried tracking him but we can't find anything out".

Artemis removed his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt slowly she ran her hand up and down his chest, "I think I know how to help you relax Mr. Grayson" she said huskily.

He looked down at her and smiled "Oh and what way is that 'Miss?" he placed his arms around her waist and started pulling her shirt up over her head, she was wearing a black lacy bra one of Dick's favorites, he kicked the door shut all the way with his foot and locked the door, he so badly wanted to push her against the door and kiss her hard but she still had the stitches in her side, so he had to be a little gentle. She ran her hands up his chest and up to his broad shoulders and slowly slide his shirt down his body, he bent his head and started kissing her neck and ear, she bit back a moan and ran her finger nails up and down his back making him shiver. Slowly he started kissing his way up her neck to her jaw and then to her mouth. It was a passionate kiss at first but it started getting heated quickly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. She put her hands in his hair and ran her finger nails over his scalp making him shiver again, slowly they started walking towards the bed, when she felt her knees hit the bed she sat down and pulled him with her not breaking the kiss once.

Later that evening when it was completely dark outside they laid on her bed together, his head was on her stomach while her hands were playing with is hair. They were talking and laughing about anything that popped into their heads. Artemis decided that she should talk about moving out now, when he was relaxed and happy.

"Dick?"

"Hmm?"

"So you know how I'm graduating in a couple of weeks?"

"Yeah what about it 'Miss?"

"Well I've been thinking and I think that I should move out and get my own place you know? I just I feel like I need to be on my own and it's not you or anything I love being here but I can't live off of yours and Bruce's generosity forever."

Dick sat up so that he could look at her better, he didn't look mad or angry just a little upset he grabbed her hand and said "If you feel that you need to get your own place then that's fine with me, I would prefer it if you stayed here where I know that you're safe but I know that you can handle yourself just fine, I want you to be happy 'Miss".

Artemis smiled and threw her arms around his neck "Thank you Dick. I really think that this is what I need to do. Also I've applied at some jobs even at Wayne Enterprises, but I do not want you or Bruce interfering with me getting hired alright?"

Dick laughed and said "You don't have to worry about that neither one of us are in charge of hiring people if you get hired it'll be all on your own. So have you been looking at apartments?"]

Artemis smiled and grabbed her computer to show him the one's she had found "Yeah I've found a couple that are pretty nice and aren't in the rougher parts of Gotham". Dick sat behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder to look at the computer.

"So when do you want to move, and how are you going to get furniture?" Dick asked her after a couple of minutes.

"I've been looking at places that are already furnished, and I was thinking I would do it the week before I graduated".

"That's only three weeks away, why such a hurry?"

"I want to be settled down by the time I find a job".

"That makes sense, but you have to make me one promise?"

Artemis looked at him curiously, after a minute she agreed "Alright what is it babe?"

"I want to install the best security system there is, I don't like you being in an apartment by yourself with nothing but standard locks". Dick had a pleading look on his face; he was actually serious about this.

Artemis sat the laptop to the side and turned around so that she was facing him. She grabbed his face in her hands and spoke softly "Dick you know I can take care of myself, I'm a trained assassin, plus a trained super hero, but if it makes you feel better than I will let you install a security system".

Dick gave her that special smile and kissed her it was just a brief kiss though "Come on let's get ready and go get some dinner, its Alfred's night off so were fending for ourselves, now I can try my hand at cooking or we can go out".

Artemis laughed and said "I would rather not try your cooking, so let's go out to eat, I'll take a shower, I don't think it'll be appropriate for me to go out in public like this".

Dick laughed and said "But you look so sexy right now". Artemis laughed and shoved his chest, she stood and started heading towards the bathroom, "So do I get to join you in there or what?" Dick asked.

Artemis stopped at the door turned around and said "Hmm I guess you can boy wonder". Dick smiled and jumped off the bed and ran at her he picked her up gently and ran into the bathroom shutting the door.

An hour later and a half later they were heading towards the garage hand in hand. Once they got there they headed towards his side of the garage and asked "So which car do you want to take today 'Miss?"

"Well I would really like to take one of the motorcycles but I think that would be kind of hard with this stupid boot on, so we can take the Audi again".

Dick smiled and said "Well you only have one more week of having to wear it and then we can go on the motorcycle, alright 'Miss".

Artemis smiled and got in the car, "Alright sounds good babe".

They decided to get Chinese food and Dick knew a place that was really good it was close to Wayne tower so they went there. The food was amazing and it felt good to go out on a normal date even though people kept looking at them, they must have recognized him as Dick Grayson Bruce Wayne's ward. When they stepped out of the restaurant there was a bunch of photographers, Dick put on his emotionless face and wrapped his arm around her waist and headed towards the car, he opened the door for her. Once he was in the car and they drove off he sighed and said "I'm sorry about that 'Miss, I should have called ahead and told them to try and keep it quiet that I was coming".

Artemis smiled and grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers, "Its ok Dick it was just a shock was all, you have nothing to feel bad about it babe".

They were almost back to the mansion when Dick started getting a call he pressed a button on the console and said "Hello"

"Dick its Bruce, are you alone right now?"

"No I'm driving with Artemis. Why?"

"I need you to come home I need to talk to you and Tim, it's important, Tim is on his way from the cave now".

"Alright Bruce I'll be there in a couple minutes". Bruce just hung up the phone without saying goodbye, Dick pressed the button on the console and the radio came back on.

"Does he always hang up like that" Artemis asked.

"Pretty much. But this must be something big he sounded weird. At least he's back though, I was starting to get really worried, I just hope it's nothing bad".

Artemis gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand, "I'm sure everything is alright babe". They made it back to the mansion in twenty minutes. Dick parked in the garage and they headed into the house, Alfred was waiting for them in the kitchen "He's in his study Master Dick".

"Thank you Alfred, I'll head up there now". Dick pulled Artemis along, up the stairs and towards her bedroom, he stopped in front of oh her door and pulled her into a hug, he pulled back and gave a quick kiss, "I'll see in a little bit okay". Artemis nodded her head and reached up to give him a quick kiss again. When she pulled away he smiled and turned towards Bruce's office, she went inside her room to get ready for bed. After getting dressed and ready for bed Artemis decided to wait up for Dick by looking for apartments, after an hour of searching on the internet Artemis had found the perfect apartment, it came fully furnished, it had two bedrooms and two and a half baths, the kitchen had brand new appliances, they had just painted it and put down new carpet. It was perfect so she printed off an application and wrote down the number so that she could call them in the morning to make an appointment to see it. She was in the middle of filling out the application when there was a knock on her door; she got up to open it. Leaning against the door frame was Dick his head was down and he looked upset.

"Dick what's wrong?" Artemis grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom, she shut and locked the door, and pulled him over to the bed, she sat down against the head board and propped her leg on the pillow she had been using for her ankle, Dick laid down with his head on her stomach, he grabbed her left hand and rubbed his fingers across her skin, while she ran her right hand through his hair.

He took a deep breath and said "He was in London the entire time, he went there because his ex-girlfriend Talia al Ghul called him and told him that she needed to see him for personal reasons and that it was extremely important, so he went, they meet in a hotel room where she explained why she had suddenly ran off and never told him. Apparently her father had requested her assistance with something and she had to go, but while she was on the mission for her father she found out she was pregnant, and it was Bruce's baby. That's when a little boy about three years old came out; he looks just like Bruce with a hint of Talia. He has a three year old biological son, he said that he was gone so long because he had to do a DNA test and set up all the paper work to get full custody of the kid, apparently Talia's father is after the boy so she wanted Bruce to take him and protect him. His name is Damian, he's a slightly hostile kid, he's really smart though, and is already skilled in most combat".

Artemis didn't know what to say Bruce Wayne has a biological son; she noticed that Dick didn't say anything about how Tim reacted, "How did Tim take the news?"

"He was shocked just like I was, he was a little more angry and called the kid a bastard child, Damian did not like that, he threw his shoe at Tim, hit him straight in the chest so that pist him off more, but I think after time and if Bruce talks to him one on one then he'll get over it". Dick was still playing with her fingers and she continued to play with his hair it seemed to calm him down.

"And how are you taking it?" she asked.

Dick sighed and said "I'm shocked and slightly angry, but I'm glad that Bruce is stepping up and accepting his own flesh and blood, I'm not jealous of the kid like Tim is, I know that he cares about me like his own son and he feels the same way about Tim, but it's just a big shock, it's going to take some time getting used to it".

"I'm sure it will babe, and I'm glad that you're accepting it and handling it so well. So when do I get to meet this Damian?"

Dick looked up at her and said "Breakfast I guess, Bruce called a family breakfast so that includes you and Barbara, but I doubt Tim will show up he probably went to the cave, if I ask Barbara though she might be able to talk some since into him".

"I can do it, I'll get up early and go over there and try talking to him".

Dick looked up at her again and smiled "If you really want to you can, I'll go with you but I'll stay back and give you time to talk to him".

"Alright then, if we're going to do this then were going to have to get some sleep". Dick sat up and moved so that he was lying next to her she reached over and turned the light off, she laid her head on his chest and draped her arm over his stomach, he wrapped his arm around her waist and buried his head into her hair. Artemis leaned up on her elbow and reached to kiss him when she pulled away she said "I love you Dick".

Dick kissed her again and said "I love you to Artemis". She laid her head down on his chest again and was soon rocked to sleep by the steady beat of his heart.


	14. Chapter 14

I Need You Chapter 14

The next morning Dick and Artemis woke up at six a.m. Dick gave her a quick kiss before he left to go to his own room and get ready, 45 minutes later they met in the hall, hand in hand they headed towards the bat cave so that they could zeta tube to the cave. Once at the cave Dick gave her a quick kiss and wished her good luck, he went off to do some computer hacking while she went in search of the newest Robin. She decided to check his room first even though she knew he wouldn't be there, but she felt it best to be cautious and check to make sure, he wasn't in his room so she headed towards the training room. Walking in and seeing a person in Robin's workout clothes made her remember when Dick was Robin and she would watch him gracefully fly around the room. Now she was watching Tim, he didn't have as much beauty as Dick did but Dick had also grown up in a circus as an acrobat. She walked further into the room when she got to the middle of the room; she stood with her arms crossed waiting for him to notice her. It didn't take very long when he noticed her he wrapped up his acrobats and walked over to her while taking off his gloves and wiping sweet from his forehead.

"I know why you're here Artemis, and no matter what you say I'm not going to that stupid family breakfast". He stood in front of her now with his arms crossed; she was still taller than him so she had to look down at him.

Artemis looked around to make sure that they were alone; she looked at him again and said "Alright tell me why I'm here and what I'm going to say Tim".

He looked shocked for a minute but quickly replace it with a glare "I know that you're going to tell me I need to go to that stupid breakfast and to get used to Damian, that he's Bruce's son and that there's nothing I can do about it and that I just have to get over it".

"I wasn't going to say any of those things Tim. I'm not here to force you to do anything, if I wanted to force you to do something I would have brought Dick or Barbara. I'm here to ask you to think about this from Damian's perspective. He's three years old, his mother is a trained assassin and thief and his father is a huge billionaire and secretly Batman. Then he finds out that his mother is giving him over to his father who he has never met, and now has to live with him in a place that he's never been before. Add in the fact that he now has two brothers, who were adopted by his father at a very young age and have known him longer. The poor kids scared Tim, this isn't his fault, I understand that your angry at Bruce and you fell hurt and betrayed, but don't let those feelings reflect on Damian, that little boy is your brother now and he's going to look up to you even if you don't like it. That's all I had to say Tim, it would be great if you came to the family breakfast but I can't force you to come".

Artemis turned around to leave she was almost to the door when Tim spoke "I'll come, but only if I get to sit by you the entire time".

Artemis turned around and smiled "Alright it's a deal" she opened her arms and said "Come here kid". Tim smiled and walked into her arms, Tim was like a little brother to her, and she cared for the kid. When Tim pulled away from her she smiled warmly at him and said "Let's get you cleaned up alright". Tim nodded his head and Artemis draped her arm over his shoulder leading him to his room so that he could get ready.

When they got the hallway were his room was Dick came out of his room and saw them, he smiled at them and said "Be careful now bro I don't need any more competition when it comes to her, I don't want to have to hurt you" he said teasingly.

Tim laughed and said "I'd like to see you try big bro", he pulled Artemis into a hug over her shoulder he stuck his tongue out at Dick, he had to stand on his tip toes to do so. When Artemis pulled away she kissed his cheek making Tim turn beet red.

Artemis smiled at him knowing perfectly well that the kiss would make him do that "Hurry and get ready kid I'm hungry". Tim hurriedly ran into his room to get ready. Artemis laughed and turned around to face Dick, he was holding his stomach from trying to hold in his laughter.

Artemis walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist; he wrapped his around hers and said with a huge smile on his face "You are very evil Ms. Crock".

"I think it runs in the family. I was able to work my magic and got him to agree to come to breakfast, under one condition though".

"Oh and what is that?"

"I have to sit next to him the entire time".

"Looks like I do have some competition then" Dick said with a smile.

Artemis smiled back and pulled him into a hug, she whispered into his ear "You'll never have any competition boy wonder". When Dick pulled back he had that special smile on, he leaned down and kissed her, it was a slow and passionate kiss, but sooner than either would have like Tim came into the hallway and coughed so that the two broke apart. Tim was wearing his civilian clothes, he had dark jeans on with a white t-shirt, he had a red hoodie on over it, and of course his dark sunglasses. "You ready to go kid" she asked him, when he nodded his head she said "Good cause I'm hungry". Dick and Tim laughed at her before turning to head towards the zeta tubes. Dick and her were holding hands, but Dick had draped his arm over Tim's shoulder in a comforting older brother way. When they made it back to the zeta tube Artemis went first and then Tim, and Dick was last. Once they were all there they headed towards the huge dining room together both Dick and Tim had removed their sunglasses, Dick draped his arm over Tim's shoulder again and grabbed Artemis hand. Barbara was in the kitchen waiting for them when they walked in.

"Hey guys. So do you know what this bats family meeting is all about?" She asked after she had hugged all of them, she was wearing skinny jeans and a flannel button up shirt, her red hair was down so it went to her waist.

"Yeah we do but it would be best if you let Bruce explain. Let's head in there, I'm starving". Dick said after giving his oldest friend a hug.

When they walked into the dining room, Bruce was already sitting at the head of the table, on his left hand side there was a little boy with dark black hair that went to his ears, he had dark brown eyes like Bruce, but his nose was different it was sharp, and his cheekbones are higher than Bruce's, these two things must be from his mother, he was a cute kid and was almost an exact replica of Bruce.

Bruce looked at Tim and actually smiled you could tell that he was happy his second son had come. He stood up from his seat and said "Thank you for coming, Artemis Barbara I have someone that I want you to meet" he nodded his head at Damian telling him to stand up and come around the table with him, he placed his hand on the boys arm and walked around the table "This is my son Damian". The kid was trying to look brave with his hands over his chest and standing with an emotionless face but you could see the nervousness in the twitch of his hands and how he kept shifting from foot to foot. Barbara looked completely shocked and just stood there until Artemis elbowed her in the rib cage, she turned to glare at Artemis but she just gave her a fake innocent smile. Artemis smiled and walked towards the kid when she got in front of him she slowly bent down on one knee to be closer to his eye level, she stuck her hand out and said "Hi Damian, my name is Artemis it's nice to meet you".

Damian hesitated a bit but he put his small hand in hers and said "You're pretty".

Artemis laughed and said "Thank you, your very sweet". When she went to get up Dick quickly moved forward and gently grabbed her arm to help her stand up, Damian just glared at Dick while he wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered things into her ear.

Eventually Barbara got over her shock and stood in front of Damian she too knelt down in front of him and stuck her hand out "Hello Damian, I'm Barbara, it's nice to meet you". Damian put his small hand in hers and said "Hi". He turned to Bruce and asked "What's with all the pretty girls". Dick laughed and whispered in Artemis ear "He really is Bruce's son".

Bruce laughed and said "Artemis is Dick's girlfriend and she lives here in the mansion, she is also the archer Artemis" Damian turned towards Dick again and glared at him causing Artemis to hid her smile behind her hand "And Barbara is one of Dick's oldest friends, she works alongside us as Batgirl".

Damian looked from Barbara and Artemis and said "Cool, but how did he get a girl like her as a girlfriend". Dick faked that he was offended while Artemis started laughing she looked at Damian and said "He's very charming, but maybe after you reach my height you could have a chance". Damian immediately brightened up with a huge smile.

"Great now I've got more competition from both of my brothers" This caused everyone to start laughing again. Once everyone had stopped laughing they all went back to the table Bruce sat down at the head with Damien on his left along with Barbara, Dick sat on his right with Artemis next to him and Tim next to her, great she's stuck between both brothers. Alfred brought in Waffles, eggs, and bacon, with orange juice and coffee. Tim didn't talk much unless it was Artemis or Barbara who asked him a question, Damien continued to glare at Dick, and Bruce just had this weird smile on his face, Barbara and Dick were laughing about the crazy stuff they used to do in high school. There was no yelling and no fighting, it was a little stiff and awkward but it was still a good family breakfast. Seeing Damien made Artemis think of her niece Lian, she's about the same age as Damien, she hadn't seen her in over a year. After breakfast Bruce, Dick, Barbara and Tim went to the bat cave to train, so Artemis and Damien hung out. She took him back to her room so that she could call the apartment she found last night. Damien lay on her bed and watched cartoons while she called and made an appointment for today at 1:00.

It was around eleven when Dick came to her room, when he knocked on the door no one answered so Dick opened the door to find Artemis sitting against her head board asleep, Damien was laying with his head in her lap he too was asleep, it looked so cute so Dick pulled out his phone and took a picture of it. Dick walked over and gently shook her shoulder "Wake up 'Miss". Artemis slowly opened her eyes and looked at him she gave him a sleepily smile and then yawned she looked down Damian was still sleeping in her lap.

Artemis put her hand under his head and carefully lifted it as she scooted off of the bed, she stood up and stretched while walking towards the bathroom, Dick followed her and quietly closed the door. He wrapped his arms around her from behind as she fixed her hair, she looked at him in the reflection and said "So I found an apartment on line, it has everything I want, I called and made an appointment it's at one today, you wanna go with me to look at it?"

Dick looked up from burying his head in her neck, "Sure I'll go with but we have to take Damien with us, Bruce asked me to look after him while he goes to deal with the company".

"That's fine, I like the kid, he's a little hostile but I think if we just give him time he'll warm up to everyone. Maybe we can make a day of it, we can grab a late lunch and take him to the park, give you guys some time to warm up to each other" she turned around so she could actually look at him.

"That sounds like a good idea, let's wake him up and get ready to go". Dick pulled her in for a quick hug and kiss before they left the bathroom. Damien was still a sleep on the bed so Artemis walked over and sat down on the bed she put her hand on his shoulder and said "Damien it's time to wake up, come on bud wake up". Slowly Damien woke up; he yawned and then sat up rubbing his eyes. When he saw Dick standing by the desk he glared and said "What's he doing here Arty?"

"Damien that's not very nice, Dick is my boyfriend and your brother. Dick and I are going to go look at an apartment, would you like to come with us, we could get some lunch and then go to the park afterwards, would you like that?"

Damien thought about it for a bit before spoke "Alright I'll go with you Arty. But if Dick is my brother and your boyfriend what does that make me?"

Artemis smiled and pulled the little boy into her lap "It makes you my little man" Damien smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck, Artemis looked at Dick he had a big smile on his face, his eyes were that beautiful shiny blue.

When Damien pulled away he asked "Arty could you carry me please?"

"I can't little man it's hard enough for me to walk with this boot on my leg, plus I have stitches in my side still. But I'm sure if you ask Dick nicely he will carry you".

Damien turned to look at Dick but who was pretending to look at something on her desk, Damien turned to look at her when she nodded her head he said "Dick will you carry me to the car?"

Dick turned to look at the boy and smiled "Of course I can Damien, would like a piggy back ride or do you wanna ride on my shoulders?"

Damien's eyes lit up and he started jumping on the bed "Shoulders so I can be super tall" Dick laughed and crouched down in front of the bed so that Damien could climb onto his shoulders, Dick grabbed his ankles to make sure he didn't fall when he stood up Damien wrapped his arms around his neck so he could hold on, when Dick stood up he laughed and said "Wee".

Dick turned around and held his hand to Artemis "You coming 'Miss?" Artemis smiled and grabbed his hand he helped her stand up, once she was up she stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek, she grabbed her phone jacket, purse, and the apartment application and headed towards the door, she opened it for the two boys, when Dick stepped through he said "Duck your head Damien you're so tall now that you're gonna hit your head". Damien laughed and hunched his body over Dicks head as he walked through, Artemis closed the door and grabbed Dicks hand and the three of them headed towards the garage.


	15. Chapter 15

I Need You Chapter 15

They decided to take one of the SUV's since Damian had to ride in a car seat. It didn't take long to find the apartment building. The building was 5 blocks from Wayne Enterprises, and the apartment was on the 10th floor, but since it was already furnished moving in wouldn't be that bad, but Artemis had a great strong boyfriend and a close friend who had the strength of Superman. The apartment was 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths, the apartment was perfect for her, the furniture fit her style all she had to do was bring in her personal items and buy some new sheets for the bed and towels for the kitchen and bathroom. Bruce told her that she could take all of the electronics in her room at the mansion which she tried to deny but he gave her the bat glare and told her to take them. Damian wasn't happy that she would be moving but once she promised to come visit all the time and that he could come over with Dick he was happy again, plus Dick promised to get him ice cream after lunch. Damian was starting to warm up to Dick, he let Dick carry him from the car into the apartment building, the door man and the realtor thought they were married and Damian was there son. When the door man first said this Dick sputtered and could not get the words out, Dick Grayson was speechless, that had never happened before, so Artemis was forced to step forward and say that they were just dating and Damian was his brother. When they meet the realtor she assumed the same thing, Dick groaned and muttered what Artemis guessed were curse words underneath his breath causing Damian to giggle. Again Artemis had to step up and explain because her usually very good with words boyfriend was to be busy teaching a three year old curse words. When they stepped into the hall towards the elevator Artemis slapped Dicks arm and glared at him again causing Damian to giggle again and say "Someone's in trouble". This caused Artemis to laugh and give him a high five and say "That's right little man he is". This caused Dick to look at her with a fearful expression and pleading eyes, she just glared back at him, but inside Artemis was laughing her ass off, it was fun to make the guy who ran around fighting criminals every night squirm. When they were in the apartment and Damian had ran off to look at everything and the relator was too busy talking to herself, Artemis stood on her tip toes and whispered "I'll deal with you tonight boy wonder". Dick looked at her with fear on his face but when he saw her smiling at him he relaxed and asked her "What are you going to do with me?" She gave him an evil smile and said "You'll just have to wait and see". The relator had turned to them and started talking again so Artemis pretended to listen while Dick stood there with a stupid grin on his face. Artemis loved the apartment and left her application with the realtor, she said it would take a couple of days before they let her know if she got it or not, they thanked the realtor and put Damian back on Dicks shoulder and headed towards the car.

"So what would you like for lunch little man" Artemis turned around in her seat to look at him.

He put his finger to his chin and though really hard about it, "I want pizza".

"All that thinking and you choose pizza. Alright there's a pizza place across the street from the park we can go there". When Artemis turned around in her seat Dick grabbed her hand and smiled at her. At the pizza place Dick ordered a meat lovers slice, while Artemis got peperoni and Damian got cheese, Artemis decided to cut it up for him to make it easier, after they had all finished and managed to get all of the cheese off of Damian's face and clothes they walked across the street to the park. Dick and Artemis were sitting on a bench with his arm around her shoulders watching Damian go up and down the slide. Artemis noticed a little girl with auburn hair and grey eyes she looked really familiar to Artemis but she wasn't able to put her finger on the reason why until she saw the little girl's mother, she was the same height as Artemis she had long black hair, black eyes and had olive colored skin, it was Jade what the hell was she doing in Gotham, last Artemis heard she wasn't even in the U.S that she and Lian were abroad.

Artemis nudged Dick and nodded her head towards her sister and niece, Dick looked where she nodded and his eyes widened, he looked back at Artemis and asked "What are you gonna do, do you want to talk to her?".

Artemis wasn't sure she hadn't seen her sister or her niece in over a year, but she really wanted to know why she was in Gotham. Artemis looked at Dick and said "Yeah I think I'm going to talk to her, I haven't seen her or Lian in over a year and I want to know what they're doing here".

"Alright but be careful 'Miss".

"Don't worry I can handle my sister. Why don't you go play with Damian on the swings ok babe?" Artemis gave him a quick kiss and stood up to go confront her sister. From the corner of her eye she could see Dick stand up and walk over to Damian and start chasing him around the play structure, it was good to see the two brothers warm up to each other. As she drew closer to her sister she took a deep breath and continued walking she knew her sister had seen her, but she didn't take any notice of her or try to walk away. When she got to her sisters side she spoke "Hello Jade".

Jade turned to face her and crossed her arms over her chest "Hello Artemis".

"What are you doing here Jade?"

"I wanted to visit mom, Lian was asking about her and I decided to come back to the states so that she could she her. Mom tells me you broke up with that red headed dork, I'm glad I never liked him. She also tells me that you had a run in with our dear father."

Artemis nodded her head and said "It's good that you brought Lian to see mom, I know she's missed you both. Yes Wally and I broke up, and I don't really care what you think of the people in my life Jade. Yes I ran into our father, have you seen him lately?"

Jade smiled and said "No I have not and I don't plan on seeing him, I don't want to be anywhere near him, and I diffidently don't want him near Lian. I see that your knew boy toy is the ward of Bruce Wayne. But what I'm trying to figure out is who the kid is that he's chasing".

"His name is Dick Grayson, we've been friends since high school and he helped me move on from Wally. The kid is his little brother. How is Lian? I haven't seen her since she was still in diapers".

Jade smiled, it was a true smile filled with love and joy something that Artemis had never seen on her sister's face. "She's great, she's smart, and no longer in diapers. She loves combat and watching Roy and I spare, Roy has already taught her how to use a bow and arrow but refuses to let me teach her how to use anything larger than a knife, she's such a daddy's girl".

Artemis smiled and said "That's great Jade I'm glad that you and Roy could make it work. Where is he?"

Jade's face turned dark "He went on some mission a week ago, he refused to tell me what it was about, I've tried locating him but I can't. Lian is starting to ask questions she misses him, she knows something is wrong".

Artemis put her hand on her sister's arm and said "I'm sure he's fine Jade". By then Lian had noticed that her mother was speaking to someone she didn't know and was curious as to who the women was.

Lian ran to her mother and attached herself to her leg "Mommy who is this?"

Jade smiled and bent down to her level "This is mommies sister Artemis do you remember her, the last time you saw her you were just a baby".

Artemis bent down and stuck her hand out "Hello Lian, the last time I saw you, you were wearing diapers and just learning how to walk".

Lian looked at her curiously and then put her hand in Artemis'. Jade, Artemis, and Lian continued talking for a little bit when Artemis heard a loud "Arty" and the next thing she knew she was laying on the ground with a laughing Damian laying on her chest and stomach. Dick ran up behind him and picked up Damian "I told you to scare her not tackle her to the ground", Dick set Damian down and then helped Artemis stand up "Are you alright 'Miss?"

"Yeah I'm fine Dick, I want you to meet my sister and niece". She turned to Jade who was smiling at her and said "This is my sister Jade and my niece Lian".

Dick stuck out his hand and said "Dick Grayson it's nice to meet you" Jade shuck his hand and then Dick bent down to Lian's level and asked "And how old are you cutie?"

Lian smiled and looked down "I'm three".

Dick smiled and said "Really because my little brother here Damian is three to" he turned to Damian who was holding Artemis' hand and said "Come here and meet Lian Damian".

Damian walked forward and stuck his hand out to Lian and said "Hi".

Lian looked from him to Dick eventually she shook his hand and said "Hi".

Dick stood up and said "It was nice to meet you two but we should be heading back". They said their good byes and then headed towards the car, Damian walked between Artemis and Dick holding their hands. Once they got in the car and started towards the mansion Damian had fallen asleep. "So how was your talk with Jade?"

"It was good she's truly happy being a mother, but she said that Roy had gone on a mission over a week ago and she hasn't heard from him and Lian is starting to ask questions. She's worried about him".

"That's weird for him to just leave like that; it must have been serious for him to leave Lian like that".

"Yeah that's what I was thinking. She said she's in town to see my mother, Lian had been asking to see her".

"That's good. So I've been thinking all day about how you're going to punish me for teaching Damian all of those curse words".

Artemis laughed and said "I'm not going to tell you I'm just going to let you sit on it for a while".

"Oh come on 'Miss just tell me" he gave her that pouty look but she refused to tell him anything.

"Nope I'm not telling you anything boy wonder".

Dick huffed and kept up the pouty face; Artemis laughed and turned up the radio. Eventually they pulled up to the mansion and parked in the garage. Carefully Dick got Damian out of his car seat and carried him upstairs to his room; he put him in his bed and tucked him into bed. When Dick walked out into the hallway and quietly closed the door Artemis stood on her tip toes to kiss him and said "Your great with him babe, I think he's starting to warm up to you".

Dick smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist "I'm warming up to him to". In one swift movement Dick picked Artemis up bridal style causing Artemis to shriek he laughed and said "I think it's time for my punishment Miss Crock", and started towards his room, once he was inside he shut the door locked it.


	16. Chapter 16

I Need You Chapter 16

It had been a month since Artemis looked at the apartment, she had officially moved in, she graduated from college and got two job options one was at Wayne Enterprises while the other was a smaller company. Artemis had questioned both Dick and Bruce to make sure that they had nothing to do with her getting the job, when they both assured her that they had nothing to do with it, Artemis took the job. People had found out that she was dating the owner's son and accused her that she was only dating him to get hired, but when she told them she had known him since she was fifteen and that dating him had nothing to do with her current job people laid off. It was hard working full time, doing work with the team, and having time with Dick but somehow they both made it work, he stayed at her apartment almost every night, and Damian stayed with her at least three times a week. Damian was already highly trained in combat and was very skillful with a knife, but he was trained to kill, something Batman never did, it was proving to be a challenge to train him to only injure someone but Artemis had faith in the kid if she could be retrained not to kill then so could he. Artemis hadn't seen or heard anything from her sister but her mother told her that she was still in town because she came to dinner almost every night. Right now Artemis was on her way to the mansion to pick up Damian, he was staying with her tonight because all of the bats were going on patrol and Alfred needed a day off from the kid, Alfred wasn't cut out for running after a kid all day anymore. Artemis parked her car in the front of the house and walked inside Dick was waiting for her at the stair case, when he saw her he ran towards her and picked her up in hug spinning her around causing Artemis to laugh and tell him to put her down, when he finally set her down he said "I missed you".

Artemis smiled and said "You just saw me at lunch babe".

"I know but I had to wait until you came here to see you again, and now I only get to see you for a couple of minutes".

"I know babe but you can come by after patrol and have breakfast with Damian and I. Now how about you stop talking and kiss me already". Artemis said

Dick smiled and said "I think I can do that", he bent his head down to kiss her wrapping his arms around her waist tighter and pulling her closer, she wound her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. Artemis didn't know how long they stood their kissing but too soon for her liking they were interrupted.

"Hurry shield your eyes Damian you don't need to see this" said Tim from the top of the stairs, when they pulled away to look at the two boys Tim had his hand over Damian's eyes while Damian was trying to push him away. "Its okay they stopped sucking each other's face off you can look now Damian".

"Ha Ha Tim let's just wait and see what you do when you get a hot girlfriend" Dick said.

"Who says I already don't?" Tim responded.

"Yeah right dream on Tim" Dick said. This lead to a full blown argument between the two brothers, Damian came down the stairs and stood next to Artemis, eventually she picked him up and hugged him.

"So are you excited for our sleep over little man" Artemis asked him.

Damian nodded his head and said "Ya I am, can we watch movies and eat popcorn?"

Artemis laughed and said "Sure we can little man I'll even let you pick out the movie". Artemis looked at her watch and realized that if the two brothers didn't stop arguing they were going to be late for patrol, she put Damian back on the ground and walked towards the two brothers. She put her hands on her hips and loudly said "Alright you two stop fighting you're going to be late for patrol".

Both of their eyes widened they stopped fighting; quickly Tim said good bye to Damian and Artemis and ran off to go to the bat cave. Dick turned towards her and pulled her in for a hug and a kiss "I'll see you tonight 'Miss". He let go of Artemis and went to Damian, he bent down on his knees and said "I'll see you later okay bud, just make sure that you protect Artemis okay?" Artemis huffed and crossed her arms over her chest Dick just smiled at her.

Damian stood up straighter and pushed his chest out a little ways and said "Of course I will protect Arty".

Dick smiled and ruffled his hair "Alright buddy I'll see you later".

Dick stood up and walked back to Artemis and gave her another kiss when Dick pulled away Artemis smiled and said "Just be safe boy wonder". Dick smiled and nodded his head before he turned and ran towards the bat cave. Artemis sighed and turned towards Damian, "Alright little man lets go get your bag and then we can go okay?" Damian smiled and grabbed her hand dragging her towards his room, once they got his bag and all the stuff he wanted to take Artemis got his car seat from Alfred and put it in her car. They stopped at the pizza place to get dinner to take to the apartment; Damian had cheese pizza again and somehow managed to get it stuck in his hair, so Artemis had to give him a bath. After he was dressed in his batman pajamas and she was dressed in her sweet pants and one of Dick's old shirts they cuddled up on the couch with a bowel of popcorn to watch Cars 2. Halfway through the movie Damian fell asleep, so Artemis carefully picked him up and carried him to the guest bedroom, she had bought a twin bed and put it in the room for nights like this. Once she had him tucked in, she went back to the living room and turned the movie off, she picked up the popcorn and put it in the kitchen, when she was done cleaning she checked to make sure that the security system was on, once everything was set she turned off all the lights and went to bed. She had just fallen asleep when she heard her door open and close, she looked at her clock it was only eleven o'clock there was no way that Dick was already done with patrol. Quietly she got out of bed and walked over to her safe, she opened it up and pulled out her bow and a couple of arrows, she loaded her bow and walked into the hallway she checked to see that Damian was still asleep and then headed towards her living room, sitting at her dining room table was her sister. Artemis didn't drop her bow and said "What the hell are you doing here Jade?"

Jade turned towards her and said "Drop the bow Artemis I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk".

Artemis sighed and lowered her bow, she walked over and sat it down on the counter she sat down at the table across from her sister "Alright Jade I'll talk but keep your voice down, Damian is here, and I don't want to wake him".

Jade smiled and said "Your good with the kid. I'm here because dad showed up at mom's apartment, luckily mom had just taken Lian with her to the store. He wants me to join him and the Light again; he said that their planning something big and that he doesn't want to lose his two daughters or granddaughter; he wouldn't tell me what their plans were though".

Artemis nodded her head and said "He told me the same thing when I ran into him. What did you tell him?".

"I told him that I gave that life up that I wanted to be there for my daughter I didn't want to end up in prison like mom did, of course he got mad and started yelling telling me I had to listen to him and a bunch of other bull shit, I laughed in his face and told him I hadn't listened to him since I was a teenager. He was getting ready to hit me when mom started opening the door, so he ran out the window and left. I wanted to warn you, there's something big going on and dad's trying really hard to get us back".

"Thanks Jade. Have you heard anything from Roy?"

Jade lowered her head and said "No. I'm still looking though. I wanted to ask you a question though?"

Artemis looked at her with question "Umm alright what is it?"

"If I can find Roy I'm going to go after him and bring him back to Lian she needs her father, but I don't want to take her with me, will you take care of her if that happens?"

Artemis was shocked she didn't expect her sister to ask her that "Of course I will Jade. And I have a question for you. How did you break in here?"

Jade smiled and said "Your boyfriends not the only computer genius".

Artemis just looked at her sister with shock, was it possible that she knew who Dick really was; Artemis pushed that thought out of her head, that's ridiculous how would Jade know that Roy doesn't even know. Jade stood up from the table and headed towards the door, she turned around to speak but before she could get a word out a knife flew right past her head she barely had enough time to move, it stuck in the wall right by her head. Artemis turned towards the hallway; Damian was standing there with another knife in his hand and a stuffed rabbit in the other.

"Damian what are you doing?" Artemis asked while getting up and going to the boy, she bent down on her knees in front of him and took the knife from his hand.

"She isn't supposed to be here, I know who she really is, she's Cheshire the thief and assassin".

"How did you find that out Domain?" Jade was now standing by the door with her arms crossed over her chest, even though the kid just tried to kill her she was impressed, the kid was good.

"I hacked my dad's computer and found her file".

"And did that file tell you that her father is sportsmaster and her mother is huntress?" Damian nodded his head "And did the file tell you that I am her little sister, and was also trained as a thief and assassin?"

Damian's eyes widened and his jaw dropped open "But Arty you're a good guy".

Artemis smiled and pulled the little boy into her arms, "I am a good guy I got the chance to become a hero thanks to Batman and Green Arrow, Jade didn't, but she gave up the villain life when she had her daughter. She was just here to talk to me about our mother. Now I want you to apologize for throwing a knife at her".

Damian nodded his head and walked towards Jade, "I'm sorry that I tried to kill you".

Jade smiled and said "It's alright kid that was a good throw". She looked back up at Artemis and said "I have to go, but be careful alright". Jade opened the door and left.

Artemis went over and checked the security system again. When she turned around Damian was rubbing his eyes and yawning, "Let's get you back in bed little man" she picked him up and carried him to the bedroom, once he was tucked into bed again she shut the door and went to get her bow from the kitchen, she also got the knife out of the wall. In her bedroom the safe was still open, Damian must have woken up because of them talking, and came to her room and saw that the safe was open so he took the knives out, the kid was smart. She put the knives and her bow and arrows back in the safe she closed it and climbed back into bed. The Light must be planning something very big if her father went to try and recruit Jade, this also meant that this probably wouldn't be the last time she saw her father either.

Artemis was woken up by someone very loudly pounding on her door, who the hell would be here at four in the morning. That person would be a very worried looking Barbara Gordon.

"What are you doing here Barbara it's four in the morning?" Artemis asked while yawning.

"I know and I'm sorry but it's Dick. Artemis he was shot."


	17. Chapter 17

I Need You Chapter 17

Artemis felt like she had fallen into an ice filled lake, her blood turned cold, and her knees felt weak like they would give out on her at any moment.

"How… " She trailed off but she couldn't get any more words out.

"The joker escaped prison; all four of us were fighting him and his henchmen. The joker pulled a gun on Tim, and Dick ran in front of it he took the bullet for Tim, he got hit once in the stomach and again in the shoulder, Bruce took the joker down from behind while Tim and I tried to stop the bleeding, Bruce grabbed Dick and took him to mount justice that's were their at now, I knew Dick would want to see you so I came here to get you. I don't know how he's doing yet.

Tears stung her eyes but she had to stay strong she had to see him, God he better be alright. "Let me get shoes on and get Damian and then we can use the zeta tube a few blocks away".

Artemis turned around and ran to her room quickly she put on her shoes grabbed her jacket phone and keys, then she went to Damian's room "Damian wake up we have to go somewhere sweetie, I need to put your shoes and jacket on you". Half-awake Damian got up and put his jacket on while she put his shoes on him. She picked him up and made sure that he had his stuffed rabbit and then went to the front room where Barbara was at. Quickly they left the apartment and headed to the zeta tube. The entire time Artemis was praying that he was alright, she couldn't believe that he stepped in front of a gun like that. On second thought she can, he did it to save his brother, even though they were both adopted Dick saw Tim as a blood brother. Damian was half-asleep on her shoulder, it was hard carrying him and running at the same time but she had to see Dick and Damian wouldn't be able to run with them. They finally made it to the zeta tube Barbara slipped on dark sunglasses before she went through the zeta tube. Bruce still dressed as Batman was waiting for them when they got there; he had blood on his costume, seeing Dick's blood made her knees weak and her face pale. Bruce walked up and took the sleeping Damian in his arms. "He's still in surgery, they said it's going to be a while but he should be fine. The bullet in his stomach didn't hit any vital organs, and the one in his shoulder went straight through". Although he was talking in his Batman voice you could hear the worry and fear in his voice, Artemis didn't think she could speak she just nodded her head and followed him to the medical bay.

Tim was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands, he still had blood on his hands and costume, when he heard them walk up and saw Artemis he ran at her and hugged her tightly he buried his head in her shoulder and said "I'm so sorry, I didn't want him to do that, I'm so sorry", she could tell that he was crying.

Artemis wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back "It's ok it's not your fault, he choose to do it on his own knowing full well what it meant". They stood there hugging for some time before Tim pulled away; you could see the tears coming from underneath his mask. "Why don't you go take a shower and clean up, it's going to be a while before we hear anything?" Artemis said. Tim nodded his head and left towards his room. Artemis sat down next to Bruce who was still holding a sleeping Damian and let her tears fall, she could no longer hold them in, Barbara sat down next to her and held her hand, she too was crying. Tim came back and sat down next to Barbara, she let go of Artemis' hand and wrapped her arm around Tim's shoulders. Eventually Damian woke up and asked what was going on an why everyone was crying, gently Bruce told him that Dick was shot and was having surgery, the little boy tried to fight it but the tears started running down his face, causing Artemis to start tearing up again, Damian buried his head into Bruce's chest and held his rabbit closer to him. After a while Damian lifted his head and held his arms out to Artemis, she smiled and pulled the little boy into her lap, he wrapped his tiny arms around her neck and buried his head underneath her chin, Artemis sighed and rested her head on his. Bruce smiled at them before he left to go wipe the blood off of his costume.

They sat there for two hours before a doctor came out "He's stable, we were able to repair the damage in his stomach, luckily the bullet did not puncture any vital organs, and we were able to safely remove it. The second bullet went straight through his right shoulder, it tore some muscles and tendons but nothing to serious, he'll have to do some physical therapy but it should be back to normal in no time, he'll have to be on bed rest for a week before he is to do any kind of movement except going to the bathroom".

Bruce shuck the doctors hand and said "Thank you doctor, can we go in and see him now?"

"Yes he's still sleeping, but I don't think the little boy should go in right now it might scare him?".

"Artemis would you like to go in with us?" Bruce asked.

Even though she wanted to see Dick she really wanted to do it alone, "I'll stay here with Damian, and go in after you guys". Bruce must have understood that she wanted to go in alone because he just nodded his head and turned to the Tim and Barbara. They both stood up and followed Bruce into the hospital room; Tim was holding Barbara's hand like it was a life line.

"Arty how come I can't go in and see Dick?" Damian asked.

"Because Dick is still sleeping but when he wakes up I promise to take you in there, he'll want to see you". Artemis said while running her hand through his hair.

"Is Dick going to be ok Arty?" Damian asked, he sounded so sad and scared.

It broke her heart to hear him like that "Look at me Damian, Dick is going to be just fine, he's strong, he's going to have to take it easy for a while okay, Dick will be just fine".

Damian nodded his head and laid his head on her chest, Artemis tightened her arms around his little body and laid her head on his.

Thirty minutes later Bruce, Tim, and Barbara came out of the room; Tim was still holding Barbara's hand while Bruce had his hand on his shoulder. Barbara was able to free himself from Tim's grasp and come over to Artemis, "I'll take Damian while you go in".

Artemis smiled said "Thank you Barbara", Artemis looked at Damian and said "Why don't you go with Barbara little man, I'm going to go in and see Dick, but he's still asleep, I'm sure she will take you to the kitchen so that you can get some cookies".

Damian looked up at Barbara and when she nodded her head he turned to Artemis and said "Okay Arty".

"I'll see you in a little bit little man". Artemis hugged him and stood up, Damian took Barbara's hand and the two along with Tim headed towards the kitchen.

"I'll be out here if you need anything Artemis" said Bruce.

Artemis gave him a tiny smile and said "Thanks".

She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, when her eyes landed on Dick's pale body on the bed tears immediately sprung to her eyes. She sat down in the chair next to his bed and grabbed his hand, she brushed the hair away from his eyes, "Oh Dick, this isn't supposed to happen, you're supposed to be the strong one who never gets more than a cracked rib and a concussion". By the time she was done the tears were freely falling down her face, she was glad that he took the bullets for Tim because if the positions were reversed Dick would torture himself for not acting sooner, but did he really have to jump in front of him like that. Seeing him like this knowing there was nothing she could do was killing her inside.

She was sitting there just holding his hand when she heard the yelling "I want to see my brother, I want Arty". It was obviously Damian, she stood up kissed Dick's forehead and then went outside Damien was yelling at Bruce and Barbara to let him in the room, when he saw her in the door way he yelled "Arty" and ran at her, she bent down and opened her arms, he wrapped his arms around her neck and refused to let go. Artemis rubbed his back and said "Shh it's ok Damian, I'm right here".

"I want to see Dick" he mumbled into her neck.

"Sweetie Dick is still sleeping".

"I'll be really quiet; please I want to see him".

Artemis sighed and said "Alright but Dick doesn't look the same right now ok, it's going to be a little scary when you go in there because he's hooked up to a lot of machines and stuff".

Damian nodded his head and said "I'm a big boy I won't be sacred Arty".

Artemis stood up with Damian still attached to her neck and put him on her hip, she grabbed his rabbit from Barbara and opened the door. Damian lifted his head from her shoulder and looked at Dick, his eyes widened and he said "What's wrong with him?".

Artemis sat down in the chair blinking back the tears "He has a big owwy and has to stay in the bed to make it all better".

Artemis scooted the chair closer to the bed and adjusted Damian on her lap, he laid his head against her chest and just stared at Dick, Artemis rubbed Damian's back with one hand and held Dicks with the other. They sat there for a while before Damian spoke again "I don't like seeing him like this Arty, Dick's supposed to be strong".

When he looked at her he had tears running down his face, this caused Artemis to start crying also she let go of Dick's hand to wipe the tears from his face. "Oh sweetie I know it's scary, I don't like seeing Dick like this either, but he's going to wake up and everything will be okay alright sweetie" Damian nodded his head but the tears didn't stop.

A raspy and weak voice spoke "She's right little buddy everything is going to be fine".

Artemis whipped her head around to look at Dick he was giving her that special smile "Oh my God Dick" she grabbed his hand while Damian smiled and climbed off Artemis' lap to climb onto the bed "Careful Damian he has big owwy's remember", Damian nodded his head and gently climbed onto the bed next to Dick and gently laid his head on his chest while wrapping his arms around his stomach, "I'm glad you're okay Dick". Dick smiled and wrapped his uninjured arm around the little boy, he turned to look at Artemis who had her hand over her mouth and had tears running down her face, having Dick wake up and then seeing the two brothers like that just melted her heart. Dick's smile turned to one of concern "What's wrong 'Miss, are you okay?".

She couldn't speak the emotions were clogging her throat so she just nodded her head, Dick scooted over on the bed even though it caused him to wince, he scooted Damian over with him but kept his head on his chest, he grabbed her hand and pulled on it. "Come on 'Miss", Artemis stood up and got in the bed, she lay on her side and wrapped her arm around both Dick and Damien, she laid her head on Dick's arm, he kissed her hair and closed his eyes. They just laid there together eventually Damian fell asleep again; Artemis sleepily whispered "I love you Dick".

Dick smiled and kissed her hair again "I love you to Artemis", eventually they both fell asleep too. And that was how Bruce, Tim, and Barbara found them an hour later, all three of them smiled and left to let them sleep, but before he left Bruce pulled out his phone and took a picture of the three.


	18. Chapter 18

I Need You Chapter 18

Artemis woke up at 11:00 am still on the bed with Damian and Dick how she managed not to fall on the floor was a mystery to her. When Artemis sat up and looked over to the other side of the bed Wally was sitting there, Artemis screamed and fell off the bed hitting her head on the chair, when Artemis looked up Wally was standing above her smirking, he was holding his hand out to her. She took his hand and let him pull her up while she held her head with her other hand and grumbled curses at the stupid red head. Dick and Damian were still asleep so Artemis nodded her head towards the hallway; Wally nodded his head and headed towards the door. Once in the hallway Artemis asked "What are you doing here Wally?"

"I called Bruce this morning trying to get a hold of you guys I wanted to talk and try to fix our friendship, but Bruce said you guys were here because Dick had been shot, so I demanded that he give me access to the cave, eventually he relented and I came straight here. I've been here about an hour. By the way the three of you look a lot like a family, the kid could be yours, but I know he's Bruce's. Bruce told me everything that happened with the joker and that he was going to be fine, but how are you holding up Arty?"

Artemis sighed and rubbed her face with her hands "When Barbara came and told me what happened it felt like my blood turned to ice. I had to wake up Damian and bring him here it was one of the scariest times of my life, this isn't supposed to happen to him you know he's supposed to be the one who barely ever gets hurt". The tears had started again much to the annoyance of Artemis. Wally was shocked he had never seen her openly cry like that, she must truly care about him.

Wally pulled Artemis into a hug and rubbed his hand up and down her back, she wrapped her arms around his waist his arms felt familiar, but they weren't Dick's and that's who she wanted to hold her right now. "He's going to be Arty, Dick's strong, and he'll be up and kicking ass in no time" Wally said.

They continued hugging until they were interrupted by a small voice saying "Arty what's going on?" it was Damian he was standing in the door way rubbing his eyes.

Artemis pulled away from Wally and crouched in front of Damian "Hey little man, this is mine and Dick's friend Wally, he was giving me a hug because he knew how worried I was about Dick".

Wally smiled at the little boy and said "Hello Damian".

Damian looked up at him and said "Hi".

Artemis picked him up and asked "Is Dick awake or was he still asleep?".

"He was waking up when I climbed out of the bed" he laid his head on her shoulder; the kid had a rough night.

Artemis turned to Wally who was smiling at her "Come on let's go in and see him". Wally nodded his head and followed her into the room. When Dick saw her come in he smiled but when he saw Wally his smile slightly faltered. Artemis walked up and sat Damian on the bed she smiled at Dick and bent over to give a quick kiss, she whispered in his ear "You had me worried sick boy wonder".

Dick gave her a sheepish smile, and then turned to look at Wally; he had his head down and his hands in his pockets. Dick picked up the remote that adjusted the bed he made it so that he could sit up and look at everyone. Dick looked at Artemis and said "Artemis do you think you could take Damian to get some breakfast while Wally and I talk?" he gave her a pleading look.

Artemis smiled and kissed him again when she pulled away she said "Alright" she stood up and walked to Damian "Come on little man lets go find something to eat, you two play nice now". Dick and Wally smiled at her while she left the room.

Once in the kitchen Damian sat at the island on one of the stools, she decided to make eggs, bacon, and toast. When Damian was done he had egg in his hair and toast crumbs all over his mouth, how the kid could get food in his hair she could not figure out. She cleaned him up and cleaned the dishes, it had been an hour since her and Damian left the two alone, she figured it was time to check on them.

When she walked into the room the two friends were laughing with each other. Artemis smiled it was good to see the two friends smiling and laughing with one another again, she had felt bad that she had caused a rift between the two friends. Damian ran into the room and climbed onto the bed with Dick, while Artemis sat in the chair.

"So I'm guessing the annoying duo is back together then?" Artemis asked.

Dick and Wally both gave her the smile that they used as teenagers that meant they were up to no good, "Yes we are Arty, so get used to the pranking starting again" Wally said.

Artemis glared at both of them and said "Don't you dare, I know embarrassing stories about both of you and I will use them".

Wally put his hands up in surrender and said "Alright no pranking you, got it".

Artemis leaned back in her chair and said "That's right Baywatch".

Dick and Wally laughed at the use of his old nickname. Damian was watching them all with amusement; he looked at Wally and said "So you're a super hero to?"

"I was a super hero, but I retired, I come back and help out every now and then".

"What super hero were you?" Damian asked.

Wally's jaw dropped opened "Are you kidding me, I'm the second fastest man alive, I was kid flash".

Damian looked at him and said "Oh I think super boy is cooler". Dick and Artemis started laughing while Wally looked like someone had slapped him in the face.

"Jeez kid way to be hurtful" Wally said, Damian only shrugged his shoulders and went back to playing with his rabbit, this only caused Dick and Artemis to laugh harder, eventually Wally joined in on the laughter.

The three friends continued talking and laughing with the occasional snide remark from Damian. Artemis had moved from the chair to sit next to Dick on the bed their fingers were intertwined, and Damian sat between her legs. Eventually Wally said that he had to leave and that he would talk to them later, he gave Dick a man hug, hugged Artemis and gave Damian a high five before he left.

Dick rested back in the bed and wrapped his arm around Artemis waist and pulled her closer to him, she rested her head on his shoulder and laid her hand on his chest, Damian was laying between their legs and had fallen asleep.

"You really scared me today" Artemis said.

"I know and I'm sorry about that, but the thought of Tim being shot was just horrid to me, I couldn't let that happen. But I'm alive and here with you and I'm not going anywhere 'Miss".

"I understand why you did it, and I would ask you to never do that to me again, but I know you wouldn't be able to keep that promise. I'm just glad that you're okay, you even had Damian worried about you". Artemis sat up a little bit so that she could look into his eyes "I love you Richard Grayson".

Dick smiled and said "I love you to Artemis Crock", she grimaced at her last name but it was quickly gone because Dick pulled her into a passionate kiss. Eventually they pulled away because of Damian being in the room, and the fact that he couldn't move because of his wounds. Artemis told him that Jade had stopped by and that Damian had thrown a knife at her, he smiled at that. He told her that he would talk to Bruce and promised her that he wouldn't let her father touch her.

The two just sat there holding each other when Bruce came in. He wanted to talk to Dick alone, so Artemis agreed to take Damian back to her house for lunch and to change clothes. Once at her house she sat Damian on the couch and turned cartoons on she made sure the security system was on and then took a quick shower, she dressed in blue skinny jeans and a purple V-neck shirt with her black leather jacket. Damian was still on the couch watching cartoons; she made him a grilled cheese sandwich with some chips and went to get his clothes from the guest bedroom. He was dressed in dark blue jeans with a black batman shirt and black and white Nike high tops, she put his jacket back on him and the two left the apartment to go back to mount justice.

When they arrived Tim was in the hospital room with Dick. Damian ran at Tim and climbed into his lap, Artemis sat next to Dick on his bed and watched the three brothers laugh and talk with one another. Dick was getting released that evening; he would be returning to the mansion so that Alfred could look after him, Damian was going to stay with Artemis since Alfred was going to be busy. Bruce had requested time off for her saying it was a family emergency. So that evening Artemis and Damian followed Dick and Bruce to the mansion so that they could have dinner with Dick and get some more of Damian's things, once at the mansion Damian ran off to his room to pack some more toys and movies, Alfred followed to pack more clothes. Artemis went with Dick to his bedroom and lay in bed with him. Somehow Dick had talked her into staying the night with him; Damian didn't care because he got wrapped up in playing video games with Tim. Artemis borrowed some clothes from Dick to sleep in, they lay in his bed watching movies and just talking. They talked about if Jade would actually get a lead on Roy, Artemis thought she would because even if she wouldn't admit it Jade truly loved Roy. They talked about how weird it was the fact that sportsmaster had tried recruiting both of his daughters to join the light, and they tried thinking about what the light was planning, after a while they just gave up and started talking about random things.

Eventually the two fell asleep watching a movie, Dick woke up to someone knocking on the door. Since he couldn't get up he had to wake up Artemis who was sleeping on his chest, he shook her awake and said "There's someone at the door 'Miss, I can't get up and answer it".

Artemis got up grumbling about this better be good and saying some curse words in Vietnamese. She opened the door to find Damian standing there with his head down looking at the floor. Artemis knelt on the floor and said "Damian what's wrong?".

"I had a nightmare that Dick got hurt again and he left me like my mommy".

"I'm right here Damien. Come here and see for yourself" said Dick from the bed.

Artemis picked him up and carried him to the bed, Damian crawled over and sat next to Dick "I don't want you to leave me like my mommy did Dick" he looked at Artemis and said "I don't want you to leave me either Arty".

Artemis scooted closer to him and pulled him into her lap and gave him a hug "Oh sweetie Dick and I are never going to leave you, we will always be here for you no matter what happens".

"Yeah bud you can't get rid of us that easily" Dick said with a smile.

Damian looked at both of them and asked "Can I sleep here tonight?"

Artemis smiled and said "Of course you can little man". They lay down like they did at the hospital except Damian lay on Artemis' chest and she lay with her head on Dick's shoulder. Damian had fallen asleep but Dick continued to run his fingers through her hair while she continued rubbing Damian's back.

"Do you ever think about living together?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah I do".

"Then move in with me. When you're healed and healthy again move in with me".

"Are you sure Artemis we've only been dating for a couple of months?"

"I'm sure Dick, we've known each other for almost seven years, I want you to move in with me".

"Okay I'll move in with you".

"Really?" asked Artemis.

Dick laughed and said "Yes I will really move in with you".

Artemis smiled and turned her head to kiss him when they pulled away Artemis said "I love you".

"I love you to 'Miss".

Eventually the two fell asleep with big goofy smiles on their faces. The three sleeping figures looked like a happy family,


	19. Chapter 19

I Need You Chapter 19

It had been two weeks since Dick was shot, he wasn't on bed rest anymore but he was still confided to his room; Alfred refused to let him leave it unless it was for physical therapy. Wally came and visited him, the two were planning something but she didn't know what, they both just better pray that it has nothing to do with her. Damian had been staying with Artemis the two weeks. When she had to return to work she took him to the day care that was a part of the Wayne Company, Bruce paid for everything, his food the daycare. When Artemis had training with the team she would leave him with Dick or she would take him with her, but since he was going to be around the team he had to wear sunglasses, which he wasn't happy about at first, but when he figured out that he could get away with rolling his eyes he learned to love them. Black Canary loved the little boy, especially when he told Green Arrow that he looked like Robin Hood, causing Artemis and Black Canary to fall on the floor laughing, while Green Arrow stood with his arms crossed over his chest and pouting. Damian loved playing with Beast Boy; he would sit and ask him to change from various animals. Conner wasn't too sure what to do with him when he kept following him and asking him questions, the kid was slightly obsessed with him. M'gann would bake brownies and stuff the kid with them despite Artemis' protest that he would get hyper, but when he got so hyper that he didn't go to sleep until two in the morning when she had to get up early for work, she made sure that never happened again. Artemis and Dick decided that it would probably be best not to tell Damian that he was going to move in with her yet, because he was still scarred of losing them. Whenever Artemis stayed at the mansion with Dick he would sleep with them to, and at her apartment she would wake up in the middle of the night with him cuddled up into her side. Bruce was constantly busy, he was always at the office or doing Batman things, Dick said that he was hardly ever home, Damian was constantly asking where he was. The kid had been here almost three months and he barely knew his father. One night when he had another nightmare and he got in bed with Artemis he called her mom, Artemis didn't know what to do except pull the kid closer and comfort him in a way that she never was as a child. Whenever Artemis took Damian to the park Jade always showed up with Lian, Artemis enjoyed spending time with her sister and niece; it was nice to see Jade as a loving and caring mother. Damian and Lian didn't get along to well though, their personalities were too similar, they constantly argued and picked on one another, Artemis and Jade both agreed that they would end up together when they were older.

After training Artemis was going over to the mansion, Dick told her that he had a special evening planned for her. Artemis didn't like surprises but he would not tell her what he had planned, she knew that most likely Alfred had something to do with it. When she entered the kitchen from the bat cave Alfred was waiting for her.

"Good evening Artemis. Master Dick has requested that you put this on before you go upstairs, you can use the bathroom in the hallway". He handed her a bag that was hanging on a hanger, along with a smaller duffle bag.

"Umm thank you Alfred. But can you tell me what Dick has planned, you know give me a heads up?" Artemis asked with her best puppy dog eyes.

Alfred smiled and started pushing her towards the bathroom "I cannot tell you his plans I was sworn to secrecy".

Artemis huffed and opened the bathroom door, she went inside and hung the bag on the door, she unzipped it and inside was a beautiful red dress. It was strapless and went to mid-thigh; it was a Dolce and Gabbana dress, holy shit. She stepped away from the dress and sat the duffle bag on the counter, inside was a hair brush, make-up, perfume, and red high heels that matched the dress. What was he planning, he couldn't go anywhere, Artemis took a deep breath and took her hair down from her ponytail and brushed it out. Then she started on her make-up, she really didn't like wearing make-up so she just put on some mascara, blush, and eyeliner, with some lip gloss. Once she was done with her make-up she took the dress out of the bag and put it on, the dress fit her perfectly, how did he know what size to get, she put on the heels, she checked her make-up and hair before she left the bathroom.

Alfred was waiting for her in the hallway; he stuck his arm out to her and said "This way Artemis".

Artemis smiled and took his arm; he led her up the stairs and towards Dick's room. When they got to the door Alfred knocked on the door waited a couple of seconds and then opened it and gestured for her to go in. The lights were dimmed, and the room was filled with candles and was playing soft music the couch was pushed up on the wall, in its place was a candle lit table for two Dick was standing next to the table in a black Gucci suit with a white button up shirt, smiling at her. Alfred quietly shut the door and left. Artemis walked further into the room and said "Dick, what is all this?"

Dick walked forward and brushed her hair behind her ear "I wanted to take you to a nice dinner, but since I'm still on house arrest I had to settle for bringing the nice dinner to you. I hired the best chef in town and had him prepare us dinner, and Alfred will bring it up to us, and you look absolutely beautiful 'Miss".

Artemis smiled and said "Oh Dick you didn't have to do this, I would have been fine with just watching a movie and eating pizza, but I do enjoy seeing you in suits like this boy wonder".

"I wanted to do something nice for you since I don't get to take you out on dates very often. And you deserve to be treated to something nice like this".

Artemis smiled and reached up to kiss him, when she pulled away she said "Thank you, this is amazing, I love it".

Dick smiled and grabbed her hand, he walked to the table and pulled her chair out for her, once she was seated he sat down across from her "Would you like some wine?"

"I would love some please". Dick poured them both some wine and handed the glass to her.

"So how was training?" Dick asked.

"It was great. Black Canary forced some more team bonding on us like usual, but other than that it was great".

"That's good Bruce has me working on things for the company it's incredibly boring". Dick reached across the table and took her hand, "Would you like to dance?"

"Can you dance with your shoulder still healing?" Artemis asked.

Dick smiled and said "Yes I can I just can't lift you or anything, so no fancy dancing just the slow intimate dancing".

Artemis smiled and said "Well in that case I would love to dance". Dick stood up and pulled her out of her chair; he grabbed a remote and turned the volume of the soft music up. He put his arms around her waist and she put hers behind his neck, slowly they moved to music, they were barely moving but it was still sweet, Artemis laid her head on his shoulder and he buried his head in her hair. They didn't talk they just held each other and gently swayed to the music, after 15 minutes of dancing there was a knock on the door, and a couple of seconds later Alfred opened the door and said "I have brought your salads and breadsticks". They sat down at the table and Alfred served them, "Your main course will be here in 10 minutes", Alfred nodded his head and left the room.

"What chef did you hire, because this is the best salad that I have ever had, and these bread sticks are absolutely amazing?" Artemis asked.

Dick laughed and said "I'm glad you like it, I hired Mario Batali".

"Oh my gosh he's my favorite chef, I love watching him on T.V."

"And that's exactly why I hired him".

By the time they finished their salads and breadsticks Alfred was at the door and bringing in their main course "Your main course is Black Fettuccine with Rock shrimp and Chilis". Alfred poured them more wine, and then he left.

"Oh my God this is absolutely amazing. I can't believe I'm eating Mario Batali's food right now" Artemis said.

Dick laughed and said "I know it is very good, I'm glad that you like everything 'Miss".

"I love it Dick thank you very much". They finished their dinner while talking about the things they were both doing for the company and what was going on with the team, they also talked about Damian and how they were going to tell him about Dick moving in with her in a couple of weeks, neither had figured out how to tell the little boy, neither one wanted to hurt him, but this was something that they both wanted to do. After finishing the amazing dinner they just sat at the table and talked, Dick told her that this is what he and Wally had been planning, since Dick couldn't leave the house Wally picked everything up and helped him. Ten minutes later there was another knock on the door but it wasn't Alfred coming in with the desert it was Mario Batali.

"Hello Mister Grayson and Miss Crock, I hope that you enjoyed your meal".

Artemis just stared at him bugged eyed, Dick smiled and stood from his chair "Yes we enjoyed it very much, thank you for doing this".

"It was no problem I was happy to do it, now if I remember correctly you said that Miss Crock here was a big fan" Mario said.

Dick smiled and said "Yes she is but I think she is a little star struck right now".

Suddenly Artemis snapped out of her shock and said "Thank you so much Mr. Batali, the food was absolutely amazing".

"Please call me Mario. For desert I made my homemade Cannoli's, along with a gift for you Miss Crock".

"Oh thank you but please call me Artemis, and you didn't have to do that just meeting you and eating your food is enough and already truly amazing".

Mario smiled and said "Nonsense, I just brought my entire collection of cook books, all signed".

"Oh my gosh thank you so much" said Artemis.

"You are very welcome Artemis, now I will leave you two to your desert, it was a joy to meet both of you", he shuck Dick's hand and hugged Artemis before he left, they both sat down and ate their cannoli's which were absolutely amazing. After they were done they got up to dance again, while they were dancing Artemis pulled back so that she could look into Dick's eyes.

"Thank you so much Dick, this was absolutely amazing, you are the best boyfriend a girl could ask for", she pulled his head down towards hers, the kiss was slow and passionate, when they pulled away from each other she spoke again "I love you".

Dick leaned his head against hers and said "I love you to".

The couple continued swaying to the soft music.


	20. Chapter 20

I Need You Chapter 20

It had been a month since Dick was shot, and two weeks since the romantic dinner they had in his bedroom. Dick was able to return to training but he had to take it easy on his shoulder, so his acrobats weren't the same as they were which was really frustrating for him. Since Dick was going to be moving in with her this weekend they decided to sit down with Damian and tell him last week. To say that he didn't take it well was an understatement. He cried threw a fit, and has refused to talk to them, it broke Artemis' heart to do that to the kid but this was something they both really wanted, and she wasn't going to move back into the mansion like he had wanted. Artemis was helping Dick pack up his room, the boy had more clothes than she did so he was taking over the closet in the guest bedroom, but she insisted on going through and getting rid of things he never wore or didn't fit in any more. They decided to take his T.V. and blue ray player and radio because his was nicer and they would just sell hers, they decided not to take his hacking computers, because he could come to the cave whenever he wanted. And the couch was diffidently staying; she did not want it in their apartment after he told her that he and Barbara did things on it that she would rather not think about. Conner came to help them move everything to the apartment, he and Dick did all the heavy lifting while Artemis and M'gann supervised. Once they promised Bruce and Alfred that they would come for dinner three times a week, and Tim teased Dick about not getting Artemis pregnant causing Artemis to blush they were ready to leave. Damian refused to come out of his room, and wouldn't open the door for either one of them, so they left. After everything was moved into the apartment Dick worked on the safes so that they opened to his hand print also, he also added some batarangs, smoke bombs, extra eskrima sticks, and a taser. He also installed a separate safe in the bedroom so that he could store his Nightwing costume and other equipment.

The two had just fallen asleep after having sex when they heard someone trying to pick the door, Dick got out of bed and pulled a pair of pants on while Artemis got up and pulled sweats and Dick's t-shirt on.

"It's probably just Jade, she does this at least once a week. But I've never been able to hear her picking the locks" Artemis said.

Dick nodded his head and said "We should get some weapons just in case".

Artemis nodded her head and they both went to their safes, she grabbed her bow and a couple of arrows, while he grabbed his eskrima sticks. They both walked towards the front room, right when they stepped out of the hallway the front door opened, Artemis could just make out the figure of her sister and her niece, she flicked the lights on and said "Jade what's going on?"

Jade looked up and said "So computer genius is living here to now? Look I need you to watch Lian for me, is there somewhere I can put her to sleep I don't want to wake her up?"

Artemis sat her bow and arrows down on the couch and said "Yeah there's a bed in the guest room, come on"

Artemis headed towards the bedroom and Jade followed her, she watched as Jade gently laid her on the bed and tucked her in, she kissed her on the head before she quietly closed the door and followed Artemis to the front room. Dick was in the kitchen making hot chocolate; he was still shirtless so his gunshot wounds were visible along with all of his other scars.

Jade and Artemis sat on the couch "Good job on picking a new boyfriend sis, this one looks way better without a shirt" Jade said with a wink.

Artemis rolled her eyes and said "I know you're not here to check out my boyfriend Jade what are you doing here?"

Dick sat down two mugs of hot chocolate on the coffee table "I'm going to get a shirt, I could give you two some space if you want?"

"No it's fine you might as well listen, I know she'll tell you anyways" Jade said, Dick nodded his head and went to get a shirt; he came back with a black t-shirt on. He sat down on the couch next to Artemis and Jade started speaking again "I need you to watch Lian for me. I found a lead on Roy, and I'm going to go after him".

Artemis nodded and said "How long will you be gone? Where are you going?"

"I don't know, I didn't have time to pack much stuff, but I brought Lian's blanket and favorite stuffed animals along with some clothes, but here's a credit card you can take her to get more clothes and toys. And I can't tell you where I'm going; I don't want you knowing anything about this".

"Jade I'm not a little girl anymore you don't have to try and protect me" Artemis said while crossing her arms, Dick put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze.

"I know that you're fully capable of handling yourself Artemis but you do not need to be involved in this, the less you know the better alright, all you need to know is that I'm going to find Roy and bring him back to our daughter. I really need to get going, I'm going to say good bye to Lian and then go" Jade stood from the couch and walked towards the guest bedroom.

Dick wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap she laid her head on his chest and sighed "Everything is going to be fine 'Miss, she's just trying to look out for her baby sister and her daughter".

"I know babe but I want to know that's she's going to be okay, even though we don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things she's still my sister".

Jade came out of the bedroom and headed towards the door, Artemis stood from the couch "Jade wait".

Jade turned around and Artemis through her arms around her sister, slowly Jade wrapped her arms around her sister they hugged each other for a while before Jade pulled away. "Take care of Lian for me, tell her how much Roy and I love her, and that I'll be back as soon as I can". Jade looked at Dick who came behind Artemis and wrapped his arms around her waist "Take care of the both of them for me alright".

Dick nodded his head and said "I will". Jade nodded her head and left the apartment. When the door closed Artemis sighed and rested her head on Dick's chest "Everything will be fine 'Miss. Come on lets go to bed, I'm sure Lian will wake up bright and early". Artemis nodded her head and followed him to the bedroom.

Artemis woke to the smell of bacon and pancakes, after using the bathroom, she went to see if Lian was still sleeping, when she opened the door the bed was empty, so headed towards the living room. Lian was sitting on the couch watching cartoons, and Dick was in the kitchen making breakfast, there were bacon, pancakes, fruit, and coffee. When Lian saw Artemis she jumped off the couch and yelled "Aunt Arty". Artemis smiled and picked the little girl up in her arms "Hello Lian".

Dick sat all the food and the plates on the table and said "Breakfast is ready".

Artemis carried Lian over to the table and sat her down, she put the food on her plate and cut it up for her, and she just hoped that she wasn't as messy of an eater as Damian was. "Dick this is amazing, who knew you could cook like this".

Dick smirked and said "I'm full of surprises Miss Crock" he winked at her.

She playfully smacked his arm and Lian laughed. "Do you like your breakfast Lian?" Dick asked.

"Ya it's really good, pancakes are my favorite".

Thankfully Lian was a cleaner eater than Damian so she only had to wipe her hands and face, while Lian watched cartoons on the couch again Dick and Artemis cleared that table and washed the dishes. "You cooked breakfast babe, I'll clean up".

"It's fine I'll help". After they were done cleaning Artemis stood with her hands on the counter watching Lian watch T.V. and play with a couple of her dolls. She felt the familiar strong arms of Dick wrap around her waist, he sat his chin on her shoulder, they stood there for a while before he spoke "We should get Tim and Babs to bring Damian to the park, and we'll take Lian, we can make it a big play date and have a picnic".

Artemis turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck "That sound like a great idea babe", she reached up to kiss him, it was just a quick kiss but it still gave her a goofy smile. While Artemis took her shower Dick called Tim and Barbara and asked them to meet them at the park, after Dick had showered and Artemis got Lian dressed they headed towards the park, since it was a nice day they decided to walk, Dick carried Lian on his shoulders. Dick was a natural with kids, this was the first time he had ever been around Lian for more than a couple of minutes but she had already warmed up to him. When they got to the park they find Tim and Barbara sitting on a bench, while Damian was playing on the slide, Dick sat Lian down and watched her run off.

Damian still wasn't talking to them, so Artemis decided to go to him, she got up from the bench and walked to the slide "Hey little man". He just looked at her and went back to climbing the steps, Artemis sighed and climbed the side of the play structure, she stood in front of him so that he couldn't go anywhere, when he turned around Dick was there. "We just want to talk to you Damian". He stood there with his arms crossed, "We didn't leave you Damian, and we certainly didn't mean to hurt you, but Dick and I wanted to live together and we can't live in the mansion any more. We will still see you all the time; Dick and I would never intentionally leave you Damian". He looked up at her but still refused to speak.

Dick bent down on his knees and said "Damian I know you feel hurt and that we left you, but we would never leave you, we are still going to come to the mansion to play with you and to bring you to the park. And you can stay the night with us every weekend if you want to do that".

Damian looked up at him and said "Really I can stay with you every weekend?"

Artemis smiled and said "Of course you can little man, you can even come over tonight and stay with us, it'll be fun Lian is staying with us to"

"Why does she get to stay with you?" Damian asked.

"Do you remember my sister Jade?" when he nodded his head she continued "Well Jade is Lian's mommy and she had to go somewhere to pick up Lian's daddy, so Lian is staying with me until her mommy and daddy come back".

"How long is that?" Damian asked.

"I don't know it could take a long time. But just because Lian is staying with us doesn't mean that you can't too little man" Artemis said, she really didn't like the little boy being mad at her.

Damian seemed to think about it for a little bit before he said "Ok I want to stay with you guys, I missed you, I don't like not talking to you".

Artemis smiled and brought the little boy into her arms while Dick smiled and put his hand on Damian's head, "We missed you to, and we don't like it when you don't talk to us either buddy" Dick said.

After everything was fixed Dick and Artemis went back to the bench to sit next to Tim and Barbara while Lian and Damian played, they started arguing after five minutes, it was going to be a long night. Tim had secretly brought a bag with Damian's stuff in it just in case he wanted to stay with them. So after they all said good bye the four of them walked to the pizza place for lunch, Artemis carried Lian on her hip while Dick carried Damian on his shoulders. At the apartment they all ate lunch and watched T.V. Damian and Lian argued and then started actually fighting each other causing Dick to have to break them up. After their fight both kids ended up falling asleep on the floor, neither Artemis nor Dick wanted to move them so they just lay on the couch together and took a nap also.

For dinner they had spaghetti and meat balls with French bread, Dick really wanted it saying it was his favorite, she only agreed to make it if he gave Damian a bath afterwards. After dinner Damian was covered head to toe in noodles and spaghetti sauce, Lian wasn't as dirty but Artemis gave her a bath also after Damian had his. Since neither child could agree on a movie Dick picked the Lion King. Artemis and Dick sat in the middle of the couch with his arm around her shoulders and her snuggled into his side, Damian laid his head in her lap while Lian laid her head in Dick's lap. By the end of the movie both kids had fallen asleep, they decided to put Lian in the bed and to make Damian a bed on the floor in the guest bedroom. Once both kids were asleep the two exhausted adults went to their room to go to bed also.


	21. Chapter 21

I Need You Chapter 21

It had been a month since Jade had brought Lian to stay with Artemis; she hadn't heard anything from her sister. While at work Artemis would take Lian to the daycare, the tougher part was when she went to training, she was able to convince Alfred to watch both Damian and Lian. Dick had officially returned to patrol with the bat family and to training plus missions with the team. The villains hadn't really caused any trouble since Artemis ran into her father, it was weird and the league was starting to get suspicious about what was really going on. Gotham has also been strangely quiet; Bruce thought it had something to do with what Sportsmaster had talked about to both Jade and Artemis.

Dick was on patrol tonight so Artemis was home alone with both Lian and Damian; thankfully they both were asleep in the bedroom while she worked on some paperwork from the office at the dining room table. It was around one in the morning when someone knocked on her door, who the hell would be here at one o'clock. She stood from the table and went to the door, she looked through the peep hole, it was Roy and Jade. She unlocked the door and threw it open "Jade, Roy, come in". Roy and Jade stepped into the apartment while Artemis shut and locked the door. Roy was skinner than Artemis had ever seen him, he had a cut on his face that would most likely scar, and he was limping, but Jade looked fine.

Artemis hugged her sister and said "I'm glad you're okay, I was starting to get worried, and you to Roy. What happened to you, you look like hell?"

Jade spoke first "Let's sit and talk before we wake up Lian". They all sat down on the couch, Jade and Roy were holding hands "Our father was the one who was holding him, he set it up as a trap, he knew I would try to find Roy, he wanted to trap me so that I would join him and the light".

"I'm guessing that he tortured you Roy by the way that you look right now; do you need to go to a hospital or something?" Artemis asked.

"I'm fine I just want to be with my wife and daughter, it killed me to know that Sportsmaster had used me as bait, I could only hope that Jade wouldn't do something stupid and come after me, of course I was wrong" he wrapped his arm around Jade's waist and pulled her closer to him, Jade had never been good with physical contact but she seemed happy and relaxed in Roy's arms, "I'm glad she did though because now I can see her scowling face, and our beautiful daughter" this caused Artemis to laugh and Jade to scowl even more.

"I can go wake her up for you, Damian is in there so I'll do it to make sure he doesn't get woken up, and that you don't step on him" Artemis said.

"Who is Damian?" Roy asked.

Artemis smiled and said "He's my boyfriend's little brother, he's stays with us on weekends, Dick is usually here but he had an out of town business trip and won't be back until the morning".

Roy raised an eyebrow at her and asked "And who is this Dick?".

Artemis rolled her eyes but Jade spoke before she could "Dick Grayson also known as Bruce Wayne's ward, Arty here is moving up in the social ladder".

Artemis scowled at her sister "Holy shit your dating Bruce Wayne's ward, but you live here in this apartment?" Roy said.

"Yes I am dating Bruce Wayne's ward and just because he works for Bruce's company and he is rich doesn't mean that we need to live in the mansion. Besides I lived here first and he moved in with me, this suits both of us. Now would you like me to wake up Lian or do you want to wait until morning and surprise her?" Artemis said.

Roy smirked at Jade who rolled her eyes and said "Fine we'll surprise her". Roy smiled and kissed Jade, but she didn't push him away she kissed him back, it turned into a heated make out session very quickly.

"Okay enough of that you're going to make me throw up. You can sleep in my bedroom since Dick won't be home for the night; just try not to be too loud alright. I'll make sure to burn the sheets tomorrow" Artemis said.

Jade stood from the couch and pulled Roy with her, Roy had a stupid grin on his face "Wait let me get a pillow and blanket first". Artemis got up and went to her bedroom, she really liked those sheets but she was diffidently burning them tomorrow, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand along with the top blanket and a pillow. When she left the room Jade winked at her and closed the door, Artemis shuddered and thought about buying a completely new bed as well, yeah she's going to do that. Once she was settled on the bed she texted Dick saying that Jade had showed up with Roy, and that they were staying the night, and she told them that he was away until morning, she also told him that they're going to buy new sheets and a new mattress tomorrow. He texted her back saying that's disgusting but he totally agrees and that he would see her in the morning; he would sleep at the mansion. Artemis finally fell asleep around three in the morning, she had grown used to having Dick sleeping next to her. She was woken up at seven in the morning by Damian and Lian jumping onto her stomach.

"Arty what are you doing on the couch and why is your door locked, and where's Dick?" Damian said while sitting on her stomach.

"If you get off of me I'll answer your questions" she said struggling to breath. When both kids were off and she was able to breathe again she sat up, "I am sleeping on the couch because this is where I fell asleep, my bedroom door is locked because it's broken, and Dick stayed at the mansion last night because he didn't get off work until really late and he didn't want to wake you guys up. Now what would you guys like for breakfast?"

Lian spoke first "I want Dick's pancakes; you don't make very good pancakes Aunt Arty".

Artemis pouted and said "Well sweetie Dick…" She didn't get to finish her sentence because Dick walked through the door with a bag of groceries and a bouquet of roses.

"Dick is right here sweetie, now who wants to help me make pancakes". Both kids yelled me and ran into the kitchen, Dick sat the groceries on the counter before walking towards Artemis, she stood up from the couch and meet him halfway, "These are for you beautiful" he handed her the beautiful bouquet of roses and smiled at her.

"These are absolutely beautiful Dick, thank you", she reached up and kissed him.

He smiled at her and said "So we have guests that have completely ruined our bed" he said with a wink.

"Yes we do, so you distract the kids by making your specialty and I will tell them to get up, is it alright if Roy borrows some of your clothes the ones he came in were disgusting?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah that's fine". Artemis reached up and kissed him again, "I'll put the flowers in water and a vase", she smile at him and handed him the roses before she turned around and headed towards the bedroom.

She knocked on the door glancing at the hall to make sure that neither of the kids walked down it, Jade opened the door a crack and peeked out, "Are you guys decent?".

"Yeah come on", she opened the door a little wider and let Artemis in, she walked in and said "Both kids are awake, Dick is distracting them by making breakfast, you guys can use the shower in here, Roy Dick said you can borrow some clothes from him, Jade if you want to you can borrow some of mine, I'll make sure that Dick calls out loudly that breakfast is ready and then you two can come out and surprise Lian, hurry up alright". With that she opened the door and went back to the living room, both kids were sitting at the island and watching Dick flip the pancakes. Artemis went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee; once it was made she sat down by Damian at the counter and watched Dick make the breakfast. Soon the breakfast was ready, so Artemis got up to set the table instead of pulling out four plates she pulled out six, Dick sat the food on the table and grabbed some fold up chairs from the closet and put them around the table, then Dick very loudly called out "Breakfast is ready", Damian and Lian looked at him funny.

"Arty why are there six plates and why do we have to wait?" Damian asked.

"Just wait a couple of minutes and you'll see why little man", Artemis looked up and saw her sister and brother in-law standing in the hall way she smiled and looked at Lian, "Sweetie why don't you turn around" Lian looked at her funny but did what she was asked and turned around.

"Mommy daddy" she yelled and ran at her parents, Roy picked her up and hugged her to his chest, he had tears in his eyes, Jade put one hand on Roy's back and the other on Lian's hair she was smiling and looked close to tears as well, Roy looked up and pulled Jade into a hug with his daughter and wife. Artemis sat at the table smiling she had tears in her eyes, it was sweet to see her sister so happy, Dick sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, he kissed her hair and whispered in her hair "I love you".

Artemis turned to him and put her hand on his cheek "I love you too", and kissed him; they pulled away and watched the family reconnect with one another.

After a couple of minutes Damian spoke up "What's going on Arty, I want to eat I'm hungry?"

Artemis smiled and said "That is Lian's mommy and daddy and they haven't seen each other in a long time, and we'll eat soon little man I promise".

Roy and Jade must have heard her because they all broke apart, Roy sat Lian down on the floor and said "Well then let's eat we can't make the little guy wait any longer". Lian sat down next to Damian with Jade next to her.

"Oh Roy, this is my boyfriend Dick Grayson, Dick this is my brother in-law Roy Harper" Artemis said.

Dick stood up and stuck his hand out, "It's nice to meet you, you have a lovely daughter, she diffidently kept Damian and I on our toes".

Roy shook his hand and said "She takes after her mother and thank you for watching Lian for us".

Everyone sat down and ate the wonderful breakfast; there was a lot of talking and laughing, and arguing from Lian and Damian. After everyone was done the four adults cleaned up while the kids watched cartoons and argued over the T.V. channel. After two hours of sitting around and talking Jade and Roy decided to go to Jade's apartment so that they could have some family time.

After everyone left Artemis and Dick stripped their bed and threw the sheets out, they got dressed and got Damian ready and decided to go shopping. They found a new mattress and had it ready to deliver this evening. They took Damian to the toy store which is something Artemis will never do with Dick again, it was like he was three years old too. They just spent the whole day together and hung out; everything was perfect Artemis had never been this happy in her life.

**I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews I truly appreciate them. I am going to keep this story going, but I'm going to skip ahead a year, there will be some big changes but I promise that they will all be good, and exciting, were going to be seeing a lot of Jade and Sportsmaster along with Roy. Hope you enjoy Thanks**


	22. Chapter 22

I Need You Chapter 22

It had been a year since Dick and Artemis began dating. They were still living together in the same apartment; she still worked for Wayne Enterprises, and was now a super hero for the Justice League as was Dick. Damian still stayed with them every weekend, and Lian stayed at least once a month with them. When Jade and Roy found out that she was pregnant again they decided to move to Gotham and raise their family, the baby boy named Luke was three months old. Wally and Dick's friendship had gone back to the way it was before, Wally and Artemis were also close friends, it took a while for her and Sophia to become friends but eventually they were able to make nice conversation. Wally and Sophia had a baby boy named Christopher Bart West after his uncle, they made Dick the godfather which Dick took very seriously, they got married a couple of weeks ago with Dick as the best man. Neither Jade nor Artemis had heard or seen anything of their father, which was just perfect for them.

Today was Artemis' twenty third birthday, even though it was a weekend Dick had convinced Damian to stay with Tim for the weekend at the mansion. Dick had something planned but he refused to tell her what it was, right now she was in her old room at the mansion getting ready. She was wearing a black Jacquard mini dress from Dolce and Gabbana, with black Gucci high heels. She wore her hair down and had a little bit of make-up on. Artemis had gotten better at wearing heels since she was always going to charity events with Dick, Artemis now had a closet full of amazing and incredibly expensive dresses and high heels, something she thought she would never have. She had just put her heels on when there was a knock on the door, she stood up grabbed her clutch bag and jacket and answered the door. Dick was wearing a light grey suit from Gucci with a white button down shirt.

"You look absolutely beautiful 'Miss", he kissed her cheek and held his arm out for her.

She took his arm and said "Thank you, you look incredibly handsome yourself babe. So are you going to tell me where we are going yet?".

Dick smirked and said "Nope, it will be a surprise, but I can tell you this we are using the zeta tube, but since you aren't allowed to see where were going you have to wear a blind fold".

"What are you serious; you're going to make me wear a blind fold?"

Dick smirked and said "Yes I am, and if you want your present you'll be a good girl and wear the blind fold".

"Since when have I been a good girl" Artemis said with a smirk.

Dick laughed and said "Well you can make an exception this time".

Artemis scowled and said "Fine, but if you make me trip or fall I'm kicking your ass".

"I wouldn't have it any other way 'Miss" Dick said laughing.

They finally made it to the bat cave, Dick put the blind fold on her and they left through the zeta tube. Artemis couldn't see anything but the smell of the place smelt familiar but she couldn't figure out why. Dick led her down a flight of stairs and then through a door, they were outside now, she could hear waves crashing on rocks, and the smell of the sea. Dick pulled the blindfold off, they were outside the cave on the beach, and about 5 feet from the water there was platform with a candle light table for two. Dick smiled and guided her towards the table, everything was absolutely beautiful. He pulled the chair out for her and then sat across from her. He poured them some wine and made a toast "To my beautiful girlfriend and that all of her dreams and wishes come true. Happy birthday Artemis".

Artemis smiled and said "Dick all of this is absolutely amazing, thank you so much, this is the best birthday I have ever had".

Dick smiled and grabbed her hand, "Your welcome 'Miss, you deserved something nice, and I hope the night only gets better".

A waiter brought out their dinner which was the most amazing fettuccini alfredo that she had ever had, they had her favorite chocolate ice cream for dessert. Once they were done and all of the dishes were gone Dick followed the waiters to lock the door so that no one could come through it. When he came back he had a blanket in his hands he laid it in the sand next to the platform, he took off his jacket and sat it on the blanket then he turned to Artemis and helped her out of the chair and onto the blanket.

They just laid there talking and watching the ocean, when Dick sat up and turned towards her, so she sat up to. "'Miss, I have had a crush on you since I was thirteen, and over the years my feelings have grown, my previous relationship's never worked because I was always comparing them to you, you are they perfect girl for me, you always have been, you understand me in a way that no one ever has before, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. What I'm trying to say is; Artemis Crock will you marry me?" Dick got on one knee and pulled a box out of his pocket inside was a three princess-cut 14k White Gold Carat Diamond ring, it was absolutely beautiful.

Artemis had tears in her eyes she nodded her head yes, "Yes… Yes of course I'll marry you Dick".

Dick smiled and put the ring on her hand once it was on her hand she pounced on him so that he feel backwards on the blanket, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her on top of him, she bent her head down and kissed him. Things quickly got heated; Dick rolled them over so that he was hovering over her his hands were running up and down her legs while her hands were unbuttoning his shirt, she pulled away from the kiss and he started kissing her neck and jaw, she bit back a moan and asked "Dick the door…. someone can walk out here".

In between kisses he answered "I locked it so that it only opens from the outside". Artemis smiled and pulled his face towards hers.

When they were done they laid in the sand breathing heavily and holding onto each other, she rolled onto her side so that she could look at him "I love you so much Richard Grayson, you have diffidently made my life a hundred times better, and I can't wait to be married to you".

Dick smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear "I love you to Artemis Crock soon to be Grayson; I can't wait to marry you either". They meet in another kiss but before things could get too heated she pulled away and said "Come on let's go back to the mansion and use your old room, it's getting cold out here".

Dick laughed and said "Apartment too far for you".

Artemis winked at him and pulled her dress on, Dick put his clothes on also but he put his jacket on Artemis, he wrapped his arm around her waist and the two headed towards the door, Dick unlocked it and they quietly headed towards the zeta tubes. Once they got to the bat cave they hurriedly got to his room, once inside and the door was locked, Artemis ripped his shirt off and pushed him onto the bed.

The next morning Artemis woke up laying on Dick's bare chest, he was already awake and playing with her hair. They decided to shower and put on the spare clothes that they both kept at the mansion luckily she had some already in his room. Once they were showered and dressed they went downstairs to the kitchen. Alfred was already in there when he saw the two enter the kitchen he smiled and said "Well let me see it". Artemis smiled and showed him the ring, Alfred smiled and looked at Dick "You have beautiful taste Master Dick; you obviously didn't get that from Master Bruce"

"What didn't Dick get from me Alfred?" Bruce said from the door way.

Dick wrapped his arm around Artemis waist and kissed her hair, "He said that I have much better taste when it comes to picking out engagement rings" Dick said with his famous smirk.

"That you do Dick, Congrats you two" Bruce smiled and walked towards them, he gave Dick a fatherly hug and then hugged Artemis and gave her a kiss on the cheek. They were all standing in the kitchen talking when Tim and Damian came into the kitchen; Damian ran at Artemis and jumped into her arms.

"What are you doing here Arty Tim said that you would be stuck in your bedroom all weekend?" Damian asked.

Bruce, Dick, and Alfred all turned to Tim and glared at him, Tim gave a sheepish smile and ducked his head; Artemis laughed and said "I am here because Dick and I have good news little man".

"What is it?" Damian asked.

Dick stepped up and took him from Artemis and sat him on the counter "Artemis and I are getting married and we want you to be our ring bearer at our wedding" Artemis stood beside Dick and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"What does ring bear mean?" Damian asked.

Artemis laughed and said "A ring bearer has the most important job; he carries the rings down the aisle and then hands them to the bride and groom".

When Artemis said he would have the most important job he immediately sat up straighter, "Ok I'll be the ring bear". Artemis and Dick laughed and sat the boy down on the ground. They all had breakfast together and sat and talked before Dick and Artemis decided to go home and just spend time together as a newly engaged couple. They just sat on the couch together talking about when they wanted to get married, Artemis wanted a small wedding during the winter, and Dick wanted the same thing. They hadn't decided on a date yet but they did decide that Wally would be the best man and Zatanna would be the maid of honor, and Lian would be the flower girl. Dick told her that since she looked at Ollie as a father he asked him for his permission to marry her, Artemis laughed and told him that he didn't need permission from anyone to marry her. She also decided that she would ask Ollie to walk her down the aisle. A year ago Artemis thought that she couldn't be any happier, but last night had diffidently proved how wrong she was, Artemis hadn't stopped smiling since Dick proposed.


	23. Chapter 23

I Need You Chapter 23

It had been two weeks since Dick proposed, they told all of their friends and family, the only people they didn't tell were the ones in the justice league who didn't know their secret identities, as Nightwing and Artemis they were just friends, even though it was extremely hard for both of them. Zatanna knew Artemis secret identity but she still didn't know Dick was actually Nightwing. They decided to get married on January 12th, which was seven months from now, it was going to be a small wedding but they weren't sure on how many guests yet. The papers and magazines of Gotham had gotten wind that Bruce Wayne's ward had gotten engaged and have been printing issues nonstop about Artemis and Dick and what their wedding was going to be like; it was starting to get really annoying.

Today was Wednesday and Artemis was at work, both Dick and Bruce were in New York City on a business meeting, so she didn't expect Dick to be home until late, she was thinking about what to do for dinner when it happened. All of a sudden a huge smoke bomb went off the entire floor was dark, Artemis pressed the panic button that was secretly installed underneath her desk, right after she pushed it someone grabbed her hair and pressed a gun to her head, the smoke was finally clearing there was at least ten men armed with machine guns wearing clown masks, great it was the joker. She tried wriggling free but the guy had a tight hold on her hair and he just pressed the gun into her temple harder "If you try anything sweet heart I'll shoot one of these hostages. Now the boss wants to see ya so I suggest you start moving". He let go of her hair and pushed her towards the elevator, he had the gun pointed at her back now but another guy was walking with them now, she couldn't run there were too many hostages with guns trained on them. There were three men already in the elevator with guns, the guy who grabbed her hair pushed her into the elevator, then him and the other guy stepped in, there was no she could overtake all of them in the elevator without getting shot, the guy pushed the button for the top floor, that's were Dick and Bruce's offices were along with the other major CEO's of the company. Once they were at the top floor they headed towards Dick's office, Artemis was just there last night with Dick doing some very inappropriate things on the desk. Artemis put on a scared expression and followed the men into the office; sitting in Dicks chair with his feet up on the desk was the Joker.

When he saw them enter he took his feet down and put his elbows on the desk "Aww our special guest Artemis Crock fiancé of Richard Dick Grayson ward of Bruce Wayne. You're even lovelier in person Miss Crock". He stood up and walked towards her, he stood in front of her with his crazy creepy smile, he ran his hand up her arm and to her face, Artemis had to clench her teeth and her fists in order not to say something or to punch him. "I would have fun with you, but sadly I am only a distraction. There is someone here who wants to congratulate you on your engagement". With that he turned around and left the office along with his henchmen after he closed the doors Artemis ran towards the book shelf, she knew Dick had a pair of knives and batarangs hidden in a book, quickly she found the book that held the knives she had just gotten the knives strapped to her leg, she was wearing a dress today, when the door opened, shit it was her father. He wasn't wearing his normal Sportsmaster clothing; he was dressed as a civilian, wearing dark blue jeans and gray t-shirt. He smiled at her except it was more creepy than welcoming and opened his arms to her motioning her to give him a hug, Artemis just stood there and crossed her arms "If you actually think I'm hugging you your more of an idiot than I thought".

He dropped his arms to his sides and walked closer to her "Is that any way to treat your heart broken father Artemis, I had to find out about your engagement through the newspapers, and to think a respectable young man like Richard Grayson didn't even ask my permission to marry you just breaks my heart".

"Dick doesn't need to ask you anything, and I sure as hell don't care what you think of my engagement".

"Now Artemis you're my youngest daughter I have a say in who you marry, does he know that you are a trained assassin and I could kill him in a second if he dared to hurt you, does he know that your sister is also a trained assassin and ruined our family name by marrying that hero, and then made it worse by having two children with him".

Artemis was pist now speaking ill of her niece and nephew was the last straw "Dick knows everything about me and still excepts me he knows I've changed and will never be an assassin again, if you even laid a finger on him I would kill you, and yes he knows about Jade and Roy's past and he excepts them also, and Jade did not ruin our family name by marrying Roy and having children, the person who ruined our family was you, you bastard".

He was close enough to hit her, and he did, he slapped her across the face and pushed her against the book shelf he held her by the shoulders and said "Join me Artemis I know you want to, join the Light and help me conquer all the people who have done us wrong, together we can make anything happen".

Artemis spit in his face and said "I'd rather die than help you, you sick bastard".

Sportsmaster snarled and pulled his fist back, she braced herself for the punch but it never came, instead there was another person saying "Touch her again and I'll make sure you rot in hell" it was Nightwing he had grabbed Sportsmaster's fist and twisted his arm back he went to bring him to his knees but Sportsmaster kicked him in the chest and sent him flying across the room, Nightwing hit the wall and slide down but was quickly back up and charging Sportsmaster, while the two were punching and kicking each other Artemis grabbed a knife from her leg and threw it, it lodged into the back of his shoulder blade, he yelled in pain and spun around towards Artemis.

"You'll pay for that Artemis".

She grabbed another knife and stood ready "Bring it", he charged at her she braced herself she blocked the first punch but the second hit her in the ribcage, she slashed the knife across his face causing him to yell in pain again, but before he could hit her Nightwing tackled him from the side and sent them flying into the desk breaking it. Nightwing was on top and continually punching him in the face, but Sportsmaster was able to hit Nightwing in the jaw knocking him sideways, but before he could climb on top of Nightwing Artemis kicked him in the head, she was still wearing heels so it was going to leave a mark, he stumbled backward but before anyone could do anything the huge window that overlooked Gotham was blasted open Nightwing tackled Artemis to the ground covering her with his body. It was a helicopter, Sportsmaster stood from the floor and said "This is isn't over Artemis you will join me", and then he ran at the helicopter and jumped onto the rail climbing inside the door, before anyone could do anything they were flying away.

Nightwing stood up and pulled Artemis with him, once she was on her feet he pulled her into a tight hug against his chest, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. The hug didn't last as long as she would have liked "I have to go, I'll see you at the apartment in twenty minutes I'll make sure the police leave you alone okay", she nodded her head and he gave her a brief kiss before he diapered down the hall. Two minutes later two police officers showed up, they escorted her to her desk so she could grab her things and then they insisted on escorting her home. Since it was such a nice day she walked to work, she had to walk home with two officers who kept looking over their shoulder, when they got to the building they insisted on escorting her to her apartment door. Once inside her apartment and the door was locked she threw off her heels and headed towards the kitchen to make a couple of ice packs, her cheek and rib cage hurt like hell, fighting in heels was horrible. Once the ice packs were made she headed towards the couch, she took her dress off so that was just in her bra and underwear, she sat down and put one ice pack on her cheek and the other on her rib cage. Her side was already starting to bruise it didn't feel like a cracked rib or anything, just a nasty bruise, and she didn't want to look at her cheek she knew it would bruise from the moment he hit her. She laid her head on the back of the couch and closed her eyes, ten minutes later Dick walked through the door, he was in his suit again but it was hastily put on some of the buttons weren't even in the right spot, he quickly shut the door and walked over to the couch.

He sat down and said "Here let me see it 'Miss" he took the ice pack away from her face and winced.

"That bad huh".

Dick smiled and said "You still look beautiful to me, but you might want to take the rest of the week off, it's already bruising pretty badly and I don't think make-up is going to help very much 'Miss. How's your rib cage?"

"It's going to bruise pretty bad too, but I don't think it's a cracked rib or anything, just a nasty bruise. I'll call in tomorrow and tell them that I'm sick. So did you guys catch the Joker or did he escape with my father?"

Dick sighed and said "Him and Batman were fighting on the roof when Sportsmaster jumped into the helicopter so the Joker was able to escape the same way when it flew up higher".

"I wish my father could take a hint and realize that Jade and I want nothing to do with him".

"It's alright 'Miss, how about I go and make you a hot bath, it'll help your rib cage and help you relax" Dick asked.

Artemis smiled and sat up leaning towards him "Only if you join me boy wonder".

Dick smiled and leaned closer to her as well "I think that I will join you Miss Crock".

Artemis glared at the use of her last name but Dick quickly kissed her and the glare was gone. When he pulled away he winked at her and stood up heading towards their bedroom, thankfully they had a huge tub and both of them could easily fit in it. After a couple of minutes Dick came back out and helped her stand from the couch but instead of leading her towards the bathroom, he picked her up bridal style causing her to laugh and carried her towards the bathroom. Between the hot soothing water and Dick rubbing her back, shoulders, and stomach Artemis easily relaxed and for that night forgot about her father.


	24. Chapter 24

I Need You Chapter 24

The next day Artemis and Dick decided to go tell Jade about what happened, since their father would probably go after her next. Artemis' check was a nasty color of black and blue you could see the hand print; she covered it with make-up to make it not look so bad so she didn't scare Lian and Luke. Her side had gotten worse it was also black and blue with some yellow around it, Dick wrapped it in ace bandage for her, he had taken the rest of the week off as well saying he needed to take care of his fiancé. Jade and Roy only lived a few blocks away, their apartment was a lot bigger, their mother also lived next door to them, Jade wanted their mother close to her grandkids, plus she didn't like the fact that she lived in the worse part of Gotham alone with their father on the loose. Artemis didn't want her mother to see her like this; she hated worrying her so she was hoping that their mother wouldn't be at their apartment when they got there. Of course luck was not on her side, when they knocked on the door Roy answered it he was smiling but when he saw her cheek he lost his smile and had a worried face on instead.

"What the hell happened to your check Artemis?" Roy had grown into the over protective brother role, it was sweet but really annoying, after Dick proposed Roy interrogated him to make sure that he was a good guy, Dick thought it was funny, but when someone steals her fiancé from her for three hours it's not so funny or cute to her.

"I'll tell you and Jade together it'll be easier that way, now move so we can come in" Artemis said walking past him and into the apartment.

Dick and Roy shook hands, "Bossy one isn't she" Dick said laughing.

Roy laughed and said "Takes after her sister".

By now both sisters were hugging one another in the living room they both turned to their partners and said "We heard that", both men gave sheepish smiles and walked into the apartment.

"Want a beer Dick?" Roy asked.

"Sure I'll take one" Dick said following him into the kitchen, where they started talking about sports.

Jade rolled her eyes and looked at her sister "So are you going to tell me what the hell happened to your face?"

Artemis sat down and asked "Where are the kids?"

"In Lian's room with mom, I'll tell her to keep them distracted" Jade turned and went down the hallway. Roy and Dick came out of the kitchen and sat down; Roy sat in the arm chair while Dick sat down on the couch next to Artemis and put his arm around her shoulder. Dick and Roy were still talking about sports, even though Artemis was a tom-boy she never cared much for sports at least not on the same level as Wally, Dick, or Roy.

Jade came back after a couple of minutes and sat down on the arm of Roy's chair. "So mom is going to distract the kids but she wants you to call her tonight and explain everything to her also"

Artemis sighed and said "Alright, well yesterday the joker showed up at work but he was just a distraction for dad, that's where the bruise came from, I've also got one on my side, he wanted me to join him like last time, I came to tell you because he'll probably go after you to try and get you to join him. I still don't know his plan all I know is that he's working with the light and wants if not one but both us to join him".

Jade looked pist and so did Roy, he wrapped his arm around Jade's waist and rubbed small circles on her hip trying to calm her down, she took a deep breath and said "When will that bastard figure out that we want nothing to do with, and that neither of us are going to join him, I'd rather join the justice league than join him and the light".

"We'll just have to be more cautious about what we do, we need to warn Paula to he knows both of you would do anything for your mother and would use her to get to you, we need to keep everyone who matters to us close".

Dick nodded his head and said "That means Damian, there are plenty of photos in the magazines of all of us together, plus he's the son of Bruce Wayne which means he could use him for money".

All three nodded their heads and decided that everyone would be extra cautious when in public. After talking for a while Dick and Artemis decided to go to Wayne mansion and talk to Bruce. Bruce was in his office working when they got there so they headed straight there. "Dick Artemis it's nice to see you, how are you feeling Artemis?"

Artemis smiled and said "Fine, ribs are a bit sore but that's it".

"That's good so I'm guessing you two are here to talk about Sportsmaster".

Dick nodded his head and said "Yes we were just talking to Jade and Roy we figured he would go after Jade next; we figured it would best to keep friends and family members close to us, that includes Damian, there are tons of pictures in magazines of us all together".

Bruce nodded his head and said "Yes we will have to be extra careful, maybe it's best if both of you kept some weapons on you at all times. I've been trying to track him but so far I haven't been able to get anything".

They talked a little more about the wedding and things like that, Bruce asked them to stay for dinner but they said no that they just wanted to spend time together; they didn't get to see Damian because he was at school.

It had been two weeks since Artemis and her father had yet another argument, it was Friday which meant Damian was going to be spending the weekend with them, Artemis got off work early on Friday's so that she could pick up Damian from school. Her and Jade made plans to meet up at the park so that Lian and Damian could play, Luke would be staying at home with their mother. Artemis and Damian stopped at the apartment so that he could change out of his school uniform and into some play clothes. Jade and Lian where already there, Lian was on the monkey bars and Jade was on their normal bench, Damian ran off towards Lian and the two began playing. Since the incident with her father Artemis began carrying a knife strapped to each leg along with her crossbow strapped to her leg, she didn't know what Jade carried but she knew it was probably lethal. They were sitting on the bench just talking when they noticed strange people around the park, there were at least ten of them, they tried not to make it seem like they had noticed them, Artemis stood up and headed towards the kids making it seem like she was going to play with them, when she got the kids she crouched down in front of them and whispered "Kids I need you to act calm ok there are some bad men here, but Jade and I are going to do anything in our power to protect you, Jade is calling Roy and Dick now, I want you two to act like were playing tag okay". Both kids nodded their heads, she stood up and said "Okay ready set … go" both kids ran off and Artemis ran after them, Jade was on the phone still at the bench smiling like she wasn't warning Dick and Roy, Artemis could see five of the men, the other five she couldn't which made her nervous, she ran after Damian and tagged him, and then quickly ran away laughing, Damian chased Lian and tagged her. She had stopped to make it look like she needed a break but really she was looking to see where the men were, Jade was no longer on the phone she was getting up and heading towards the kids, she was just getting ready to run again when she heard him behind her. He went to grab her shoulder but she dropped to the ground and kicked his legs out from underneath him she jumped up and aimed a kick at his head knocking him unconscious.

When she looked around Jade was already at the kids but three guys were heading towards them, she grabbed her crossbow and sprinted towards them. She was almost to them when a guy stepped in front of her, she didn't even stop she leapt into the air and kicked him in the chest, they both tumbled down, she punched him in the jaw and then stood up and hit him in the head with her crossbow knocking him out also. She ran towards Jade she had her collapsible katana out and fighting the three guys the kids were behind her holding onto each other with their eyes wide, Artemis picked up her speed when one of them dodged around Jade and headed towards the kids, before he could grab them Artemis shot one of her arrows, landing in the guys out stretched arm, he yelled in pain and pulled the arrow out he tossed it on the ground and turned towards her, she was already in front of him she kicked him in the head knocking him to ground, she picked up her arrow and looked towards Jade, she already had one guy knocked out and was just finishing the other, she walked to the kids and crouched down in front of them breathing hard.

"Are you two okay?" Artemis asked.

Jade joined her and pulled Lian into her chest "We need to get out of here, there are still five guys and maybe more plus who knows when these five will wake up".

Artemis nodded her head and picked up Damian they started running towards the exit that would take them towards both of their apartments, she could hear footsteps coming after them.

"Damian how many of them are there?" She couldn't turn around while carrying Damian she had to keep looking forward.

"It's the last five Arty, and their gaining fast", he sounded slightly scared but not how scared a normal four year old should sound she knew she couldn't out run them while carrying Damian she was going to have to fight them while protecting Damian, Jade must have been thinking the same thing they looked at each other and nodded their heads, they sat the kids down on the ground, she knew both kids could handle a knife so she pulled both knifes from her legs and handed them to the kids.

"Stay behind us okay, and stay together, if something happens I want you to run and get help get Roy and Dick" she stood up and drew her crossbow, she shot two arrows at one guy he dodged one but the other lodged into his leg. Jade ran at the closest one and began fighting him. She drew another arrow and hit the same guy as before in the shoulder, making him stop to have to pull both arrows out, but another one came at her, he went to punch her but she side stepped him and kicked him in the back of the knee making him go down, she swung her crossbow at his head but he dodged it and kicked her legs out, she landed on her back he got up and started walking towards her with a smirk on his face, but his eyes widened and he fell forward with a knife in his back, Damian was standing there with an evil grin on his face. Before she could do anything she heard Jade yell out in pain, the guy she was fighting had knocked her on the ground and was standing above her Artemis rolled to her stomach and shot an arrow into his side giving Jade the chance to kick him in the chest and hit him in the head with her katana knocking him unconscious. Both girls stood up and faced the three remaining men, Artemis drew an arrow and Jade got into a fighting stance both of them were breathing hard. The men charged at them Artemis was able to get an arrow into each of them before they got to close, but it didn't stop them, one guy tackled Artemis while the other two went after Jade. Artemis rolled and came up in a crouched position her crossbow flew from her hand and was a few feet away which meant she had to fight hand to hand. They guy came at her again and went to punch her she did a back flip while kicking him in the jaw. But that didn't stop him he came at her again this time landing a kick to her gut knocking the wind out of her, he went to punch her but she knocked it away with her arm and kicked him where the sun don't shine, he went down on his knees and she kicked him the head knocking him unconscious, Jade had one guy knocked out but was still fighting the other. Artemis ran towards her crossbow and loaded her last arrow she had just aimed at the guy when something hit her over the head. Her vision blurred and she fell to the ground, she heard Damian call out to her and run towards her, she wanted to tell him to run and find Dick but she couldn't get the words out her vision was going black, she tried to fight it but then someone kicked her in her ribcage causing her vision to swirl, she looked towards Jade right when another guy came behind her and hit over the head with a rock, Jade went crashing to the ground and wasn't getting back up, she heard a scream and looked towards the kids one of the guys had grabbed Lian and another one had grabbed Damian, they both were kicking and screaming. Artemis shook her head and got to her hands and knees, she was just getting ready to stand up when someone kicked her in the head from behind knocking her to the ground. The last thing she saw was Damian and Lian being carried away before the blackness surrounded her.


	25. Chapter 25

I Need You Chapter 25

Artemis woke up with a killer headache, when she opened her eyes it only intensified because of the bright lights, she shut her eyes and groaned, what the hell happened, she racked her brain trying to remember. It hit her like a bus, everything that happened came back, the guys attacking them at the park, her and Jade fighting them, Damian killing one, being hit over the head and watching the kids being taken away. Tears immediately sprung to her eyes, she had to get up and find them, slowly she opened her eyes and sat up in the bed, she was in the medical ward at the cave, Jade was in the bed next to her with thick bandage wrapped around her head. What was Jade doing in the cave, she had just gotten her feet swung over the side of the bed when the door opened, it was Dick and Roy. Dick was dressed in his civilian clothes with his stupid sunglasses; Dick smiled and came over to her he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

When he pulled away she whispered "What's going on why are we at the cave, and how the hell did you explain all this to Roy? Did you get the kids, did they take them?"

"Slow down 'Miss, I told Roy that I'm Nightwing, and I knew that Jade was going to need to the best medical help possible her head wound was pretty bad, so I got the clearance to bring them here, Roy swore to never say anything, and we'll tell Jade when she wakes up, but I have a feeling she already knows, and yes Roy and I got the kids, when we showed up they were trying to get them in the car but Damian stabbed one with a knife and Lian had managed to kick one where the sun don't shine, Roy and I took them out before they could get them in the car, I called Barbara and Tim and they brought the kids to the cave, while Roy and I went to get you guys, Jade was in bad shape, there was a lot of blood. The kids are fine their both asleep in Tim's room, it took a while to convince Damian that you were fine and he could see you after he woke up".

Artemis had never felt so relieved in her life, she didn't even want to think what her father would do to them, she had tears streaming down her face, Dick wiped them away and pulled her into his chest, "It's okay 'Miss, everyone is fine, Jade just had a nasty cut, but there's no brain damage, and both Damian and Lian are fine there just a little shaken up".

She nodded her head and took a deep breath calming herself down, she went to stand up but her knees gave out and she got really dizzy luckily Dick caught her he picked her up sat her down in the bed again "I think you should stay in bed for a little bit longer".

Artemis huffed and said "Fine, but I want to see Damian and Lian I need to see for myself that their alright".

Dick nodded his head and said "Alright I'll got get them" he bent down and gave her a brief kiss before he turned and left to get the kids. Artemis sighed and laid her head back, the headache was worse now.

Roy stood up and walked over to her bed "Thank you for trying to protect my family".

"I didn't protect them though, Jade got hurt and they almost got away with the kids, you and Dick saved them" she said looking down.

Roy grabbed her hand and said "Yes but you gave us enough time to get there, and you protected them with your life. I'm proud to call you my sister in-law and the aunt of my children" he was going to say more but Damian and Lian ran through the door, Lian ran at her father while Damian ran at Artemis. Quickly he climbed into the bed and threw his arms around her.

"I'm so glad you're okay Arty" Damian said into her hair.

Dick came and sat down next to her on the bed he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her head and said "I'm glad you're okay to 'Miss, you had me really worried".

"I'm fine and I'm glad that my two favorite men are okay to, I don't know what I would do without either of you" Dick smiled and gave her a brief kiss, while Damian just laid his head on her chest and closed his eyes. Artemis laid her head on Dick's shoulder and said "When can we go home?"

"Once you can stand up without falling over or feeling dizzy. So why don't you take a nap and see if you feel better when you wake up, I have to go talk to Batman about what happened, he got most of the guys and is interrogating them now".

Artemis nodded her head and said "Sounds good, babe". Dick stood up and kissed her before he left, Artemis adjusted Damian so that he was next to her side, when she looked over Lian was sleeping on the bed with Jade while Roy had his head on the bed with his hand in Jades. Artemis closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

She woke up two hours later, Damian was no longer on the bed with her, he must have went somewhere with Dick. Artemis looked towards her sister's bed to see if she was awake, she was still asleep Roy and Lian were also gone. Artemis sat up she didn't feel dizzy or anything so she swung her legs over the bed, slowly she stood up, her legs didn't feel weak and she didn't feel dizzy so she let go of the bed and started walking towards the door. She made it to the kitchen just fine, that's where she found Dick and Roy feeding the kids lunch. When Dick saw her he rushed to her and grabbed her arms "Are okay, you don't feel dizzy or anything?"

Artemis laughed and said "Dick I'm fine I walked all the way here without feeling dizzy or anything, I'm fine".

Dick smiled and pulled her into a hug. "The kids are done eating lets go see if Jade has woken up yet" Roy said. Dick and Artemis nodded their heads, Damian jumped off his chair and grabbed Artemis' hand, Roy picked up Lian and they all headed towards the medical bay. When they got there Jade was just waking up, her face was scrunched in pain and she had her hands covering her eyes, when Lian saw that she was awake she jumped out of her father's grasp and yelled "Mommy" while running towards the bed, Jade's eyes opened when she heard her daughter, she saw her running at her and smiled. Lian climbed onto the bed and hugged her mom, Jade hugged her back she had tears in her eyes she must have thought they took the kids, Roy walked to the bed and kissed her on the head, he whispered something to her and she nodded her head. Artemis walked to her sister's bed and smiled "It's about time you woke up sleeping beauty".

Jade gave her a fake glare and said "Yeah well I got hit in the head with a rock what do you expect. So what happened, and where we?"

Dick stepped forward and said "We are at the medical bay at the team's headquarters; I got permission to bring you here because your head wound was pretty bad. And yes Jade I am Nightwing, Roy obviously knows and has been sworn to secrecy. How long have you known?"

Jade laughed and said "I've known for a couple of years know before you guys even started dating. And thank you for bring me here, I swear I won't tell anyone your secret".

Dick smiled and said "Your welcome, you deserve the best medical treatment, and I trust you not to say anything since you've known for so long and haven't said anything".

Roy sat down on the bed and put his arm on Jade's shoulder "Is Luke still with my mom?".

"Yes and their both fine, I call and check on them every hour" Roy said.

They all sat around talking until it was time for Jade to be released, they all walked to the zeta tube and came out by Jade and Roy's apartment, Artemis Dick, and Damian said goodbye to them and went towards their own apartment, Artemis just wanted to be alone with her two boys.

Once at the apartment Dick started cooking diner while Damian and Artemis sat on the couch and watched SpongeBob Squarepants. It felt good to be at home and relaxing on the couch with Damian cuddled into her side while Dick cooked dinner singing the SpongeBob Squarepants theme song. They ate Dick's amazing homemade pizza with a Caesar salad, of course Damian managed to get cheese in his hair so Dick had to give him a bath. After his bath they all sat on the couch and watched Happy Feet 2. Damian sat in the middle of them holding the bowl of popcorn, Dick had his arm on the back of the couch playing with her hair, she felt incredibly peaceful like nothing had happened at the park the day before. Once the movie was over Dick carried Damian to the bedroom Artemis followed and watched as Dick read him a story, she kissed his head good night and left the room. In the kitchen she wrapped her arms around Dick's waist from behind, and said "You're great with him".

Dick turned around and pulled her closer "You're great with him to. Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything boy wonder" Artemis said smirking.

Dick smiled and asked "Do you want children?"

Artemis was shocked they had never talked about kids before, what brought this on "Yes I want kids but I want to be married to you for a couple of years first, I'm not ready to be a full time mom, and I don't want to give up being a super hero quite yet. Do you want kids?"

Dick ran his hand through her hair and said "Ya I do but I want to wait to, I just see you with Damian, Lian, and Luke and it makes me think about what our children would be like you know".

"I know what you mean babe, but right now we just need to focus on catching my father and making it through our wedding".

Dick smiled and said "I can't wait to call you Mrs. Grayson".

Artemis reached up kissed him when she pulled away she said "I can't wait either Mr. Grayson, but I also can't wait for our honeymoon, two weeks alone in the Bahamas".

Dick smiled and "That will diffidently be fun, seeing you in a bikini or better yet naked at all times".

Artemis laughed and slapped his chest "Come on let's clean up and then go to bed I'm exhausted".

"Why don't you go get ready, I can do these dishes tomorrow, I'll just turn everything off and then join you okay?"

Artemis smiled and kissed him again "You are the best fiancé a girl could ask for". She turned and headed towards the bedroom, she changed into one of Dick's old shirts that she officially claimed as her own and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Once she was done Dick was already in the bedroom he was standing with his back to her in his boxers he was looking at his phone, probably reading emails from work. She climbed into bed and said "Hurry and brush your teeth boy wonder the beds cold".

Dick smiled and sat his phone down, she watched him walk to the bathroom, God that boy has a nice ass. Five minutes later he exited the bathroom and turned the lights off, and climbed into the bed, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into him. She wrapped an arm across his stomach and tangled her legs with his, she reached up and kissed him when she pulled away she could barely see his beautiful blue eyes "I love you Dick".

Dick lifted his head and kissed her again "I love you to Artemis". She laid her head on his chest and listened to his steady heart beat as she fell asleep in the arms of the man that she loved more than anything.


	26. Chapter 26

I Need You Chapter 26

It had been a month since the attempt to take the kids. No one had heard or seen anything of Sportsmaster, which was a good thing and a bad thing. He was planning something big but no one knew what, the entire Justice League was looking for him and the Light. Dick and Artemis decided to have the wedding at Wayne mansion with almost 100 guests. It was just friends and family, only people they knew and trusted and who they wanted involved in their special day. Artemis was worried that her father would try to pull something if they didn't catch him by then but Dick assured her everything would be fine there would be people from the Justice League their along with some cops that Dick was friends with from school. They choose a pearl white and red theme for the wedding, Artemis hadn't picked out a dress but Dick, Wally, Conner, and Tim along with Damian would be wearing black tuxes with red button up shirts. She hadn't decided on bridesmaids dresses either but she knew the color would be red with a white tie in the middle. She had chosen Zatanna, M'gann, and Barbara as her bridesmaids, with Lian as the flower girl.

Zatanna came over and together they were looking at designs for bridesmaid's dresses and a dress for Artemis. They had ten bridal magazines lying out on the dining room table; they also had a chart for seating arrangements that she and Dick would work on tonight when he got home.

"So what are you guys doing for your honeymoon?" Zatanna asked with a raised eye brow.

Artemis smiled and said "Were going to the Bahamas for two weeks, we have our own house on a private beach, apparently it's a part of the many homes that Bruce owns around the world".

Zatanna smiled and said "Oh the benefits of marrying one of the richest men in this country ward".

Artemis laughed and said "That's not why I'm marrying him; I wouldn't care if he was dirt poor. Dick is un-like any other man that I've ever meet".

Zatanna smiled and said "So how did you guys meet? I barely know this guy besides what little you've told me and what I've found on line".

Artemis smiled "We meet on my first day at Gotham Academy I was talking with my tour guide when all of a sudden this short little kid came put his arm around my shoulder and took a picture, he told me that we would laugh about it someday, and ever since then we were best friends. I have the picture here somewhere" She stood up and found it on the entertainment center she handed it to Zatanna who started laughing "He told me right when we started dating that he had always had a crush on me but it turned into something more, and that's why his previous relationships never worked".

Zatanna smiled and said "That's so sweet".

Artemis smiled they talked about more wedding details but soon she had to go because she had a date. Artemis hugged her and said "You have to come over for dinner some time so you can get to know Dick more".

"I'm free this Saturday will that work?" Zatanna said.

"Yeah his little brother Damian will be here, he's going to be the ring bearer, it'll be fun, does seven sound good".

"Yeah that'll work I'll see you on Saturday" they said good bye, and Artemis closed the door. And decided to start making dinner she was going to make tacos. She had just gotten everything finished when Dick walked through the door. "Hey babe dinner's almost done, why don't you go change while I set the table".

Dick walked into the kitchen and kissed her cheek "Ok but I need a kiss first from by beautiful fiancé first". Artemis smiled and turned towards him he bent his head down and kissed her, when he pulled away he started kissing her neck between kisses he said "We should just skip dinner and go straight to the bedroom".

Artemis laughed and pushed him away "Maybe if you're a good boy and eat all your dinner we can have some fun in the bedroom".

Dick smirked and said "I'm holding you to that Miss Crock".

Artemis glared and punched his chest "Keep talking like that and you'll get nothing" of course she was teasing she wanted to have sex just as much as he did but she wasn't going to tell him that.

Dick put his hands up in surrender, "Alright I'll go change now" he backed up and headed towards the bedroom; she smirked and finished getting everything ready. She cleared the table of all the magazines and put them on the coffee table, she sat the seating arrangement on the counter, they could work on that another night.

She got everything sat on the table when Dick came out he was wearing a Batman shirt with basketball shorts. He smiled at her and said "Smells great 'Miss". He sat down at the table and asked "So how was your day?" while making his taco.

Artemis sat down and started making her taco "Work was pretty boring, but Zatanna came by and helped me pick out bridesmaids dress and gowns, I have couple marked that I really liked, we also created a seating chart for the reception, were supposed to work on it tonight but we have other plans, oh and I invited Zatanna over for dinner on Saturday. That way she can get to know you better" she said laughing.

Dick had just stuffed his mouth with food, he just nodded his head swallowed and said "Sounds good, if only she knew that were actually close friends".

"And if she knew that you would probably be dating her still" she said with slight anger in her voice.

Dick put his food down and grabbed her hand "Look at me Artemis, I would choose you over her or any other girl for that matter in a heartbeat. I love you Artemis I've been in love with you since you left the team with Wally. Zatanna is my friend, yes I dated her but all I could do was compare her to you she never made me feel the way you do; I never cared about her like I do you. You mean everything to me Artemis Crock".

Artemis stood up from her chair and pulled on his arm "What are we doing?" Dick asked.

"Bedroom now" Artemis said leading him to the hallway.

"But what about dinner" he said with a slight quiver in his voice.

"Leave it. Right now I want you in the bedroom that was the sweetest thing you have ever said to me".

Dick smiled and picked her up bridal style and going to the bedroom shutting the bedroom door with his foot.

It was now Saturday Dick made his famous homemade lasagna with a nice salad and French bread. Damian was excited to see Zatanna but Artemis had to keep reminding him that Zatanna didn't know him and he had to act like he has never meet her before.

Zatanna showed up with a plate of brownies and some wine.

Dick came out of the kitchen with Damian so Artemis could introduce them, "Zatanna this is Dick and his little brother Damian".

Damian grabbed her hand and kissed it saying "Your pretty".

Zatanna laughed and said "Well aren't you a little charmer".

Dick stepped forward and said "He gets that from me, Dick Grayson nice to officially meet you" Zatanna shook his hand.

"Come on we can open the wine while Dick finishes cooking".

"You got yourself a man that's rich, handsome, and can cook to, I'm guessing that means he's good in bed to", When Artemis blushed Zatanna gave a knowing smile and said "You lucky girl you". Dick was also blushing but he ducked his head hoping no one would see. They girls opened the wine and sat on the couch talking while Damian played on the floor with his action figures.

"Dinner's ready" Dick poured more wine as everyone sat down at the table the food was absolutely amazing and the talking was fun. Zatanna and Dick got along perfectly well, but the two were friends when he was Nightwing, Damian flirted with her making everyone laugh. After dinner Dick had to give Damian a bath because the kid couldn't eat lasagna and stay clean. Artemis and Zatanna went back to the couch to talk.

"You are on lucky girl Artemis Crock, you got the perfect guy, he's rich, handsome, a great cook, charming, and he's fantastic with kids" Zatanna said .

Artemis smiled and said "I know I am, I don't know what I would do without him, he was an amazing friend when I broke up with Wally, but he's an even more amazing boyfriend and fiancé".

"I'm happy for you Artemis you deserve to be happy. Have you heard anything about your father?"

Artemis sighed "No I haven't not even Batman or Nightwing can find a trace of him and they are the best detective's in the world. I just hope we can catch him before the wedding, I know that there will plenty of people there from the League and everything but I'm still worried".

Zatanna put her hand on her arm and said "Everything will be fine; we won't let him ruin your special day".

Dick had come back from giving Damian his bath but Dick was soaking wet "Slipped on some water when I was drying him off and fell into the tub, got a good laugh out of Damian, but my ass is going to hurt tomorrow". Artemis and Zatanna laughed while Dick went and changed, Damian sat on her lap while they talked, he was getting ready to fall asleep.

"I should get going, it's getting late and I've got to be in the office early tomorrow" she said winking. She stood from the couch and grabbed her purse, Dick picked Damian up and the three followed her to the door. "It was nice meeting you Dick and you to Damian. We'll have to do this again, oh and Artemis M'gann and I are planning you're bachelorette party so email me with a list of people you want to go ok".

Artemis nodded her head and said "Okay I'll do that sometime this week, get home safe Zatanna" she said hugging her.

Dick shook her hand and said "It was nice meeting you". Once the door was closed Dick and Artemis headed towards the guest bedroom to put Damian to bed. Dick read a story and then they both tucked him in. They both cleaned up the kitchen and dining room and then headed to bed. The wedding was in four months, and she was starting to feel the stress, but every night Dick helped her relax and forget about all the things she had to do.


	27. Chapter 27

I Need You Chapter 27

It was now October which meant the wedding was three months away. Artemis had gone gown shopping with her mother, Jade, and Zatanna a couple of weeks ago, she had found the perfect dress. It was a simple white V-neck dress that had a small train in the back underneath the breast were diamonds sewed in, it was the tenth dress she had tried on, by the time she put it on she was getting tired and irritated, she hated shopping and no one could agree on the perfect dress. When she looked in the mirror she knew it was perfect it fit her amazing and was what she wanted, it fit her personality, when she walked out to show everyone her mother instantly got tears in her eyes, as did Jade. They all agreed it was the perfect dress; she hid it at Jade's house since she knew Dick would try to look at it.

She and Dick had finished the seating arrangements and picked flowers, they choose a mixture of red and white roses. The bridesmaids would carry red roses, while she would carry red and white roses. The center pieces of the tables would be a mixture of the two, the groom's men would be wearing red roses pinned on their tuxes and Dick would be wearing a red rose. Everything was coming into place perfectly. They had even found the perfect bridesmaids dresses, they were short sleeve V-neck dresses that would go right above the knee, with a white bodice tied around it.

Bruce was planning a big thanksgiving dinner, he wanted everyone there Barbara of course couldn't join them because she had plans with her own family. Bruce had even asked Artemis if she would like her mother Jade, Roy and the kids to join them. He said that they were all going to be family soon so they should get to know everyone. When she told her mother she refused at first but Dick charmed her into it saying it would mean the world to him if his soon to be mother in-law would join them. Convincing Roy to go was easy, Jade on the other hand was not easily convinced but Roy said that he would talk to her, the next day he called and said that they all would be joining them at the mansion. Artemis was excited that the two completely different families were coming together for the holiday, and slightly nervous.

Next week was Halloween which meant the biggest day for villains and stupid ordinary people to try and pull off their latest scheme. They had no idea if Sportsmaster had something planned but they weren't taking any chances, Jade and Roy weren't going trick or treating and neither was Damian they all decided it was safer to stay at home then be in the public at night in Gotham. Dick Tim and Barbara were going to patrol while Bruce stayed with Damian, Artemis was going to patrol with Ollie in Star City. Dick didn't want her to at first saying that he would feel better if she was with him but she assured him that everything would be fine and Ollie and Dinah wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Ollie had asked her and Dick to join them for thanksgiving, when she told him that she and her family would be joining the Wayne family she could tell he was disappointed, so she talked to Bruce and he agreed to have Ollie and Dinah for diner. When she told him that it would mean a lot to have her mother sister nephew and niece along with the man she saw as a father there he quickly agreed.

Today she and Dick were looking at wedding rings; he was supposed to pick her up after work. It was four o'clock she was just getting off, she was still at her desk getting her things together, and she had a lot of paper work to look over tonight. She was putting everything into her brief case when she heard him "Hello there beautiful".

He was sitting on her desk in one of his many Gucci suits, his blue eyes were shinning, his hair looked like he just ran his hand through it, and he was giving her that special smile. She smiled back and said "Hey babe, just let me pack up this paper work and we can go". She got all of the paper work in her brief case grabbed her purse and jacket and stood up, he stood up as well and wrapped an arm around her waist kissing her on the check. Together they headed towards the elevator, people had gotten used to seeing them together but some of the women still glared at her.

Once in the elevator he pulled her to him and said "I think it's time I got my hello kiss".

She smirked at him and put a hand on his chest before looking up into his eyes, "I think your right were all alone in this elevator" he gave her a boyish smile and bent his head down to kiss her, kissing Dick was something she never experienced before, even when he gave her a brief peck on the lips he made her knees weak. But ones like this full of passion and love made her heart race and her knees shake, she would never get tired of the way he made her feel. They pulled away because the elevator was starting to slow down, she smiled and kissed his cheek before straightening her dress and fixing her hair, they weren't to the bottom yet but they stopped on floor three when someone stepped in, it was an older man with gray hair, he smiled and nodded his head at them. When they got to the parking garage floor Dick grabbed her hand and led her to his parking spot where his Audi was waiting.

They were at the most expensive jewelers in all of Gotham, she had chosen a gorgeous White Gold 3/8 Carat Diamond wedding band, it matched her engagement ring and fit her personality the best. Dick choose a black and silver Triton Titanium band. After they were done choosing rings they went to dinner at a fancy restaurant where everything was in French, luckily both she and Dick could speak fluent French. The food was amazing and it was good to relax with Dick at a nice dinner, the stress of the wedding, work, and her father was taking it's tool on her. Dick could obviously see this.

"So I've planned a getaway for us for this weekend, I've talked to Damian and he agreed to stay with Bruce this weekend while we go away. I know your stressed 'Miss and it's the perfect time. Next weekend is Halloween which is always stressful, plus the wedding is getting closer. We'll leave our phones at home get on my motorcycle and got o Bruce's house out in the country".

Artemis smiled and grabbed his hand "That sounds like the best idea that you have ever had boy wonder".

Dick smiled and said "I'm full of great ideas 'Miss". They finished their dinner and went home; Dick went to the office to work on the computer while Artemis sat down at the table and worked on her paperwork. She couldn't wait for Friday to come; she only had to make it through two days of work.

Friday came slower than she thought possible; she made sure to finish everything by four o'clock so that she didn't have any paperwork to do. She meet Dick at home he had to finish up a meeting, she changed into black skinny jeans with a purple V-neck shirt and grabbed her black leather jacket, it wasn't that cold outside yet, she put on her black combat looking boots, she was packing her bag when Dick walked through the door. "'Miss are you home?"

"Yeah I'm in the bedroom" she yelled back. He came in undoing his tie; he gave her that special smile and kissed her "I can't wait to get out of this town with you".

Artemis smiled and said "Me either babe, now hurry up and change so we can go, do you want me to pack your bag for you?"

"That would be great 'Miss thanks" he pecked her on the lips and headed towards the dresser to grab clothes before going in the bathroom, she had just finished packing his bag when he came out wearing dark jeans with a gray t-shirt he grabbed a black hoodie and put it on underneath his black leather jacket with his black boots. They decided to take their phones just in case they needed them but agreed they would keep them off, and check them at night. They got in Dick's Audi and headed towards the mansion to pick up his motorcycle. He parked the car in the garage and grabbed the bags; he tied them securely to the bike. They were taking the red and black 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1. He handed a helmet to Artemis, he put his on and got on the bike starting it, she climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. They left the mansion and headed towards the country it was about a two hour drive to the country home that Bruce owned, Artemis didn't know how many homes Bruce owned but she was guessing it was quite a few.

It was eight o'clock by the time they got the house, it was located a mile from the road, guarded by huge gates that Dick had to type a pass code into. They house looked like a log cabin; it was a three bedroom three bath house on almost 20 acres. The house had a huge newly redecorated kitchen full of food, a large living room with two sectional couches and a large flat screen T.V. with game stations and a Blu-ray player, along with a beautiful fire place. In the master bedroom there was a personal bathroom with a Jacuzzi tube that could fit two people and a separate walk in shower. There was also a porch that over looked the property with a hot tube on it, and a romantic fire place with two chairs in front of it and a flat screen hanging above it. Upstairs were the last two bedrooms and a bathroom, in the basement there was a full wine cellar. If you pushed a secret button in the basement a door would open and lead you to a room full of weapons in case someone attacked. Outside there was a garage full of ATV's, dirt bikes, and off road side x side's. The house was amazing and the perfect place to get away from everything.

Dick decided to make fettuccini alfredo for dinner, so Artemis went to the wine cellar and picked out a red wine. Dick started the fire place in the living room and they sat on the floor eating dinner in front of the fireplace, when they were done Dick put their plates in the kitchen grabbed the blanket from the couch and sat on the floor with Artemis. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him; she laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his stomach. He kissed her hair and said "Just three more months and I can call you Mrs. Grayson".

She smiled and hugged him tighter "I can't wait to be married to you. Thank you for bringing me here, I really needed some time to relax and be alone with you".

"You're welcome 'Miss I'm just glad I could help, I know how stressed you've been and I knew it was time to get away before you blew up" Dick said laughing.

"I would not blow up. How many homes does Bruce own?" she asked.

Dick thought about it counting on his fingers "Uhh he has about twenty that I know of. It's a variety of houses, and apartments, so we could go just about anywhere and not have to stay in a hotel".

"Holy shit he owns twenty homes" Artemis said shocked.

Dick laughed and said "Yeah, he travels a lot and likes to stay in the comfort of a home not a hotel room".

"Wow, so do I have to ask how many homes you own?" She said teasingly.

Dick laughed and said "I don't own any homes yet, I'm hoping that we could buy one together after were married. But Tim Damian and I are set up to inherit the homes if something happens to Bruce".

"You want to buy a house after were married?" Artemis asked sitting up so she could look him in the face.

"Yeah, I like the apartment and it's convenient but I don't want to raise a family in an apartment, I want a home with a yard" Dick said.

Artemis smiled and said "I want that to babe, I always have" she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her, it was a passionate kiss. Dick pulled her into his lap so that she was straddling his hips; Artemis ran her hands through his hair making him shiver. Before Artemis could even realize what he was doing he moved so that she was lying on the floor with Dick on top of her. Yes this was diffidently a great idea.


	28. Chapter 28

I Need You Chapter 29

Today was January 12th, Artemis Crock's wedding day to Richard 'Dick' Grayson. She was standing in her old bedroom at Wayne mansion with her bridesmaids Zatanna, M'gann, and Barbara. She was already in her dress she had her hair and make-up done and was pacing in the bedroom. Finally after having enough Zatanna stood up and pushed her into a chair, "You listen to me Artemis Crock, Dick loves you I may not know him that well but I can tell just by looking at that boy that he loves you, there is absolutely nothing to worry about".

Artemis nodded her head "I know that but what if I'm not ready, what if I'm not a good wife or a good mother?"

Barbara stood up and put her hands on Artemis' shoulders, "You will be an amazing wife and an amazing mother, look how you are with Damian and you and Dick have been living together for over a year, Dick loves you, both of you are going to make mistakes over the years but nothing you do will ever keep Dick from loving you. I should know that boy has been in love with you since he was thirteen years old".

Artemis smiled and said "Thank you all of you" she stood up and all four of the girls stood in a group hug. They broke apart when there was a knock on the door, Zatanna opened the door to find Ollie and Damian standing there, they both were wearing black tux's with red button up shirts and white roses.

Ollie smiled and said "It's almost time, you girls are supposed to be at the top of the stairs with the boys, but first this little guy wanted to see Artemis".

Artemis smiled and said "Come here little man" she opened her arms and Damian ran into them she picked him up and settled him on her hip "You look very handsome little man".

Damian smile and said "You look pretty Arty".

"Thank you, tell me how is Dick holding up?" she asked,

Damian giggled and said "Wally had to slap him in order for him to stop freaking out".

Artemis laughed and said "Well at least Wally helped him, I think it's time for you to go get ready why don't you go with Barbara and get ready okay little man I'll see you in a little bit".

Damian nodded his head and she sat him down he took Barbara's hand and the two left along with Zatanna and M'gann, it was only Ollie and Artemis left in the room.

Ollie smiled and said "You ready for this kid?"

Artemis smiled and walked towards the man that she saw as a father and wrapped her arms around him he hugged her back. When she pulled away she said "I've always been ready, thank you for doing this Ollie you are like the father to me that I never had, this means so much to me".

Ollie had tears in his eyes "Artemis I am honored to be walking you down that aisle, I am so proud of you, and I see you as the daughter that I've never had. I wish you all the happiness in the world Artemis you deserve it" Now Artemis had tears in her eyes she hugged Ollie one more time. He pulled away and looked at his watch "It's show time kid, let's do this".

Artemis took a deep breath grabbed her bouquet off the desk and put her arm through Ollie's, and headed towards the grand staircase, Dick had already gone down the aisle with Bruce and her mother. The bridesmaids and groomsmen along with Damian and Lian were all waiting at the top of the stairs. When Wally saw her and Ollie he came over and said "You look beautiful Arty".

"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself bay watch" Artemis said.

He kissed her cheek and then went to stand with Zatanna. Damian and Lian went first with their ring bearer pillow and flower petals, then Tim went with Barbara, M'gann with Conner, and then Zatanna with Wally. After they had all gotten to alter the wedding song started Artemis' eye's widened and her heart beat quickened. Ollie squeezed her hand and gave her a comforting smile; she took a deep breath and started walking towards her soon to be husband. Dick was standing there with that special smile on his face; he looked incredibly handsome in his tux. When their eyes meet all of her worry and fears were thrown out the door. It felt like the walk down the aisle took hours but when she finally made it to the end Dick and Ollie shook hands and he handed her over to the love of her life. Dick was still smiling as they walked towards the pastor.

Dick whispered so that only she could hear "You look beautiful".

She smiled and whispered back "You look pretty good to boy wonder".

They stood in front of the pastor hands intertwined reciting their vows to each other; they decided to write their own vows Dick started first.

"Artemis Crock I have loved you since I was thirteen, and I promise to love you until the day I die. You understand me better than anyone on this earth, you except me for who I am, we have been through so much together and I want to continue going through every step of my life with you. I promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my life". Artemis could tell her mother was crying now without even looking.

Artemis swallowed hard and started her vows "Dick Grayson, you have trolled and annoyed me since I was fifteen, but I wouldn't have it any other way. You know, understand, and except my past. You help me forget the worst times and help me move on to the better times, I love you more than I ever thought possible. I promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my life".

Damian brought them the rings; they put them on each other and just smiled at one another. "You may now kiss the bride" and with that Dick stepped forward and kissed her. The kiss was full of love and passion and happiness, eventually Wally tapped Dick on the shoulder and said "Alright guys there's children in the room" they broke apart smiling with everyone clapping, her mother was crying into a napkin Ollie's eyes were shiny and she swore that Bruce's were to.

All of the wedding party plus their families meet in the foyer to take pictures while the formal ball room was turned into a reception area. It was hard to break away from Dick so that they could take pictures with their families. All of the groomsmen picked Dick up and did funny pictures; they even got Conner to smile. For Dick's family he had Bruce, Barbara, Tim, Damian, and Alfred. For Artemis family she had Ollie, Dinah, Jade, Roy, Lian, Luke and her mother. After all of the pictures were taken and the reception area was set up the wedding party and their families went inside to their tables while Dick and Artemis waited outside to be announced.

Dick pulled her into his chest and kissed her "How does it feel to be Mrs. Richard Grayson?"

Artemis smiled and said "It feels pretty damn good" Dick smiled and kissed her again but they broke apart when the DJ announced them for the first time as husband and wife. The reception was amazing chef Mario Batali cooked all of the food, they played good music and everyone had a blast. Tim and Barbara danced together a lot but no one knew if they were a couple or not neither one would give them a straight answer. Dick danced with her mother even though it was hard in the wheel chair but he insisted on doing it, and Artemis danced with Bruce.

Bruce whispered to her "Thank you, for making Dick happy, I've never seen him this happy before".

Artemis smiled and said "You're welcome Bruce". Artemis danced with Wally and Tim, Conner refused to dance with anyone but M'gann, she also danced with Roy Ollie and Damian. Artemis had never danced so much in her life, but her favorite part was dancing to a slow song with Dick.

After the reception Artemis changed into a red cocktail dress while Dick changed into black jeans with a white button up shirt and a blazer. They left the reception with everyone cheering and laughing; they got in Dick's Audi and headed towards Bruce's private plan that would take them to the Bahamas. On the way to the Bahamas both of them joined the mile high club.

Bruce's house was absolutely amazing; it was on its own private beach with its own boat dock and private pool. It had four bedrooms with three baths; there was an outside shower that was very private. There was of course a wine cellar with a secret room full of weapons; the master suite was the entire third story floor. With a king bed, walk in closet, fire place, gigantic bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and separate walk in shower. There was also a cleaning service that would come every other day to clean the house. They didn't even leave the house the first day; they just hung out in the master suite. They book took surfing lessons and went snorkeling, and spent a lot of time on the boat, where they had sex in the middle of the ocean. Artemis favorite thing was to lie out on the beach and watch the ocean, Dick always thought it was funny to through her over his shoulder and then go running into the ocean.

But sadly their wonderful honeymoon had to end but Dick promised to take her there every year for their anniversary if she wanted. They were in Dick's Audi but they weren't heading towards their apartment.

"Dick where are we going?" Artemis asked.

Dick smiled and said "It's a surprise were almost there so you don't have to wait long".

Artemis huffed she hated surprises and he knew that, she stared out the window; they were heading into the suburbs of Gotham, very far from their apartment. A couple of minutes later they pulled up in front of a beautiful house.

"Dick what's going on?" she asked.

Dick smiled and said "This is our new home, I bought a couple of months again, it's my wedding present to you. I had all of our stuff moved in from the apartment while we were gone. It's four bedrooms, three baths, and 5, 2764 square feet plus it's on about 10 acres. There's a four car garage and above it is a two bedroom guest house".

She was speechless she just stared at the beautiful house with her mouth open. Dick laughed and said "Come on let's go look at it" he got out of the car and she followed still speechless, he grabbed her hand and said "I didn't get any furniture I thought we could decorate everything together, the only thing that's ready is the guest house and we have our bed in the master suite".

Artemis stopped at the front door and said "Dick this is amazing, I… I don't know what to say".

"You don't have to say anything 'Miss, now come on" he pulled her inside the amazing house. All of the bedrooms were upstairs, but down stairs had a huge open kitchen with a huge dining room, a full bathroom, an office, and a gym. The outside deck in the back had a built in fireplace and grill. Upstairs the master suite had two walk in closets, a huge bathroom with a steam shower, Jacuzzi tube, and a fire place in the bedroom. There was also a basement that Dick had created as a mini bat cave for them to use; the only way to get to it was through the office.

"Dick this is amazing, and beautiful, thank you so much, this is the best present I've ever received" Artemis said.

"You're welcome 'Miss I figured this was the best place for you and I to raise a family at some point, plus there's a guest house for people to stay in".

"This place is perfect babe" Artemis said kissing her husband. "Now how about we go upstairs and break in that brand new master suite Mr. Grayson" she said suggestively.

Dick smiled and said "Anything for you Mrs. Grayson" he picked her up bridal style and practically sprinted for the master suite.


	29. Chapter 29

I Need You Chapter 30

It was a year after they were married, they had decorated their house, even made a special room just for Damian, and he still came over every weekend. They were still working with the Justice League, and were working for Wayne Enterprises. Artemis had caught what she thought was the flu, but it didn't go away, it came back every day, Dick finally talked her into going to the doctor, where they found out that she was pregnant. Artemis was beyond shocked, while Dick ran around all of Gotham telling everyone that she was pregnant. She was excited but scared, being a mom to Damian was one thing but could she really do it with her own child. When she was two months along and at a doctor's appointment they found out she was pregnant with twins, this caused Dick to actually faint. This made both of them even more nervous, but all of their friends and family told them they would do great. Her mother actually cried with tears of joy when they told her. Artemis officially retired from the Justice League and focused on her pregnancy and working at the company. Damian didn't really understand the whole thing, all he knew was that Artemis' stomach was getting bigger, and she ate really weird things like pickles and peanut butter. Dick was great through the whole thing, he handled her mood swings amazing and he would get up at any time of night and get her newest craving. When Dick and Artemis explained to Damian that he wouldn't be able to come over after the babies were still young he got upset and yelled at them saying he never wanted to see them again and that they were choosing their own kids over him. The next day Artemis went to the mansion and talked to him telling him that no matter what he would always be a part of their family and he would always be her little man, even when he was sixteen years old and had a girlfriend. On August 21st she gave birth to a healthy baby boy and a healthy baby girl. They boy looked more like Dick and the girl looked more like Artemis but her skin wasn't as dark. They named them Cole John Grayson and Mary Elizabeth Grayson. The John in Cole's middle name was after Dick's father, and Mary was after his mother. Damian wasn't too fond of the babies at first but he quickly warmed up to them especially Mary. Artemis never went back to being a super hero, she said that she wanted to raise her children and not worry about leaving them; she said it was enough stress having Dick still involved in it. But she still worked with her bow and arrow she and Roy taught Damian and Lian and eventually Luke how to use a bow and arrow. Dick and Artemis decided that they would tell their children about their super hero lives and would train them but if they did not want to be super heroes when they got older they would be perfectly fine with that.

Six months after Dick and Artemis' wedding Tim and Barbara admitted that they were officially dating, and they wanted to wait to tell everyone until after Tim turned eighteen and Dick and Artemis were married. They moved in together in Dick and Artemis old apartment. Barbara left the superhero business around the same time Artemis gave birth to the twins, but she wouldn't say why just that she wanted a normal life and to go to college. About a month later they found out she was pregnant. Dick still thought it was weird that his best friend and his brother were dating and having a baby together but he was happy for them. They had a baby boy named Aden Wayne Drake.

When the twins were three Dick was shot in the stomach while fighting with two-face. Artemis was two months pregnant but she hadn't told him yet because she had found out the same day he was shot. The stress of having Dick shot and him almost dying almost caused her to have a miscarriage. Once he was fully recovered he retired from being a super hero, saying that he wanted to raise his kids and he didn't want them to have to see him like that in a hospital again. They had another baby boy on their wedding anniversary; they named him David Richard Grayson.

When Damian and Lian were sixteen they started dating, Jade and Artemis were right. Even though they still fought like crazy they cared about each other, Damian became the new Robin and Lian became the new Artemis. A couple years after them Luke became Red Arrow officially bringing his father to tears. Damian still came and stayed with them almost every weekend, they had to turn the downstairs gym into a bedroom for him when David was born.

Sportsmaster never broke out of prison and they never heard anything about him, which was just fine for all of them. Dick and Artemis grew old together watching their children grow and become superheroes, lawyers, and professional gymnasts. They lived until an old age side by side and never losing the love that they felt for each other.


End file.
